NASA analyzes the day and night of Tropical Storm Dorian
The Leeward Islands are an archipelago in the eastern Caribbean Sea, where the sea meets the Western Atlantic. The Leewards extend from the Virgin Islands to the east of Puerto Rico, southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies.
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) at the Finnish nuclear power plant provided a visible image of the storm on 26 August 2019. According to the VIIRS image, the storm had received some specks. This shape and the thunderstorm shape of the storm changed during the day as dry air moved to the mid-range areas of the storm by suppressing thunderstorms. A tropical cyclone is made up of hundreds of thunderstorms, so when development is prevented, it affects the intensity of the storm and sometimes the shape of the storm depending on the direction from which the dry air comes.
At 5 p.m. EDT on Aug. 26, the National Hurricane Center said, “While intra-nuclear convection has declined recently, strong convection (rising air forming thunderstorms) recently erupted and cloud cover is colder than minus 80 degrees. Celsius [indicating powerful thunderstorms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall] has evolved north of the low-level center. “
August 27 at 01.06 EDT (0506 UTC) The Finland nuclear power plant satellite again passed Dorian and watched the storm at night and received high-resolution infrared band images. The night image showed that Dorian looked relatively compact in size, with a few overflowing cloud cover and some tropospheric convective gravitational waves.
The night scene was created as a researcher for William Straka III at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS)). “The month-long decline of 12% shows many features,” Straka said.
By August 27, Dorian had moved across St. Lucia and into the Eastern Caribbean Sea, bringing with it tropical storm winds. The NHC said data from the Caribbean Composite Radar show that Dorian is still a very compact system and still lacks a well-defined core.
The National Hurricane Center or NHC issued many bells and warnings on August 27th. Hurricane Watch is valid in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic from Isla Saona to Samana. A tropical storm warning is in effect in Martinique, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Puerto Rico. Tropical Storm Watch is valid in Dominica, Grenada and its dependencies, Saba and St. Eustatius, the Dominican Republic from Isla Saona to Punta Palenque and the Dominican Republic from Samana to Puerto Plata.
The NOAA National Hurricane Center, or NHC, determined on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) that the Dorian center of the tropical storm was located near surface observations and Martinique radar data at latitudes 14.0 north and 61.2 west longitude. This sets the center of the storm just 15 miles (25 km) west and northwest of St. Lucia.
Dorian is moving towards the west-northwest near 13 km / h (20 km / h), and this movement is expected to continue tonight, followed by a turn to the northwest on Wednesday.
The maximum sustained wind is close to 85 miles per hour (85 km / h) and gusts more. Slow strengthening is forecast for the next 48 hours, and Dorian is forecast to be close to hurricanes as it moves near Puerto Rico and eastern Hispaniola.
The NHC said: “On the forecast trajectory, downtown Dorian will move across the eastern and northeastern Caribbean in the coming days, passing near Puerto Rico or south on Wednesday [August 28], go near or over eastern Hispaniola on Wednesday night and head north to Hispaniola on Thursday [August 29]. “