Satellites Monitor Hurricane Sandy

Sandy weakened to a Tropical Storm and strengthened back into a hurricane early on Saturday Oct. 26, and its pressure was dropping, meaning that the storm is intensifying as it becomes an extra-tropical storm.
This image was created combining NOAA’s GOES-13 and GOES-15 satellite imagery on Oct. 27 and shows the cloud cover from Hurricane Sandy interacting with the long line of clouds associated with the cold front approaching the eastern U.S. The composite image was created using SSEC’s McIDAS software and NOAA’s GOES imager satellite imagery. Credit: NOAA/UWI/SSEC

NASA’s TRMM satellite identified heavy rain falling within the system and NOAA’s GOES satellites provided a picture of Sandy’s massive size.

NASA’s TRMM satellite identified a huge span of moderate rainfall with heaviest rains happening north and east of Sandy’s center. NOAA’s GOES satellite imagery clearly shows the extent of Sandy’s massive cloud cover and the long line of clouds associated with the cold front that stretches from Maine to the Gulf coast.

This 3-D view of Hurricane Sandy was created from NASA’s TRMM satellite on the Oct. 26, also using TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) data that showed that the thunderstorms north of Sandy’s center of circulation reached heights of a little above 11km (~6.8 mile). Radar reflectivity indicated moderate to heavy rain showers in that area. Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce

Sandy continues to merge with a cold front and is creating a monster storm with a massive reach. The combination is expected to bring heavy rainfall and tropical-storm-force sustained winds for a couple of days to the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern U.S. beginning late Sunday. Sandy is truly the “bride of Frankenstorm” because the storm’s circulation is over 2,000 miles and the wind field of tropical-storm-force winds is hundreds of miles in diameter. The Weather Channel cited a concern for power outages from Maine to Virginia as a result of this storm.

NOAA’s GOES satellite clearly shows the extent of the monster merging of systems. A hybrid image of NOAA’s GOES-13 and GOES-15 satellite created on Oct. 27 by the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center, Madison, provided a full view of the cloud cover from Hurricane Sandy interacting with the long line of clouds associated with the cold front approaching the eastern U.S. The composite image was created using SSEC’s McIDAS software and NOAA’s GOES imager satellite imagery.