NASA MODIS Image of the Day: August 23, 2007 – Hurricane Dean over the Yucatan Peninsula
This image captured by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite, on August 21, 2007, shows Hurrican Dean over the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
Hurricane Dean was the fourth named storm and the first hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic season.
It was also one of the strongest hurricanes ever observed in the Atlantic Basin. Dean reached Category Five status—the highest rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale—on August 20 as it passed over the deep, warm waters of the Caribbean headed for the Yucatan Peninsula. When it came ashore on August 21, it was the first storm to make landfall as a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, said the National Hurricane Center. According to The New York Times, Hurricane Dean followed a sparsely inhabited path through Mexico, avoiding the tourist attraction of Cancun. Nevertheless, the storm tore roofs off houses, felled trees, downed power lines, and flooded streets. Passing over the warm water of the Bay of Campeche promised to give the storm more energy as it continued moving.
