NASA MODIS Image of the Day: August 27, 2011 – Hurricane Irene (09L) over the Bahamas
Hurricane Irene continues as an extremely large and significantly dangerous storm.
In this image, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on August 25, bands of thunderstorms spiral tightly around a dense center, forming the circular shape of a well-developed hurricane.
At the time the image was taken, 11:50 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Irene was moving over the Bahamas with sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour). Irene has a long reach. The storm is large, spanning nearly 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from east to west in this image. Though the storm is moving north-northwest at a mere 20 km/hr (13 mph), it will be within reach of North Carolina shores on Saturday, August 27, warns the National Hurricane Center (NHC). At the time the image was taken, a tropical storm watch extended from north of Edisto Beach, South Carolina to Surf City, North Carolina, and a hurricane watch covered the area from Surf City to the Virginia border. Since then, the governors of most coastal states, including North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have declared a State of Emergency, as have mayors of coastal cities. President Obama has also declared a Federal Emergency for the state of North Carolina, allowing federal response assets to begin work in that state. Irene was a Category 3 storm when this image was taken. According to the NHC report at 11:00 a.m. EDT on August 26, the storm had weakened slightly, and is now at Category 2. The 2:00 pm update suggests that the Storm is likely to maintain that strength or weaken slightly in the next 24 to 48 hours as it approaches landfall on the North Carolina Coast. Despite slight weakening, Irene remains a strong and dangerous Category 2 Hurricane, with a broad reach and extremely intense precipitation. It has the potential to cause significant damage to large portions of the coast, even many miles away from the eye itself.
