NASA MODIS Image of the Day: June 10, 2011 – Hurricane Adrian (01E) off Mexico
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite captured this true-color image of Tropical Storm Adrian swirling off the cost of Mexico at 10:20 a.
m.
Pacific Daylight Time on June 8, 2011. By 8 p.m. that same day, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported the storm carried maximum sustained wind speeds of about 80 miles per hour, making it the first Hurricane of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season. Hurricane Adrian began as a well-defined low pressure system centered about 365 miles south of Acapulco, Mexico, and by about 8 a.m. on June 7 it developed sufficiently organized deep convection to be classified as a Tropical Depression. At that time, it was called Tropical Depression One-E. By 8 p.m. on June 9, the storm packed maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour (220 km/hr), making it a Category Four Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. It was located about 320 miles south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, moving west-northwest at about 9 miles per hour. It was not forecast to impact land, and was expected to lose strength over the next two to three days as it moves farther out into the Pacific. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a pre-season prediction for the Eastern Pacific hurricane season on May 16. It called for below average activity, with 12 named storms, 6.5 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes. The 1981-2010 averages for the Eastern Pacific hurricane season are 15-16 named storms, 8-9 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes. June hurricanes are more common in the Eastern Pacific than in the Atlantic.
