NASA MODIS Image of the Day: June 22, 2011 – Hurricane Beatriz (02E) off the coast of Mexico
Hurricane Beatriz, the second named storm of the east Pacific hurricane season, skirted the coast of western Mexico on June 20, 2011.
The Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite captured this true-color image at 17:40 UTC (10:40 a.
m. PDT) that same day. At the time this image was captured, Beatriz was still a tropical storm. In this image, a central circular area of heavy clouds can be seen, but the open eye which is typical of a hurricane has not yet formed. By late the same day, Beatriz had strengthened to hurricane status, bringing strong winds, high surf and heavy rains to coastal Mexico, including the port of Manzanillo. Beatriz formed on the morning of June 19 as tropical depression Two-E about 200 miles (320 km) south-southwest of Punto Maldonado, Mexico. At that time, the government of Mexico issued tropical storm warnings for the coast of Mexico from Tecpan de Galeana westward to Puna San Telmo. Near that same time, a hurricane watch from Zihuatanejo westward to Manzanillo was also issued. At 2 p.m. PDT on June 21 the National Hurricane Center reported that the eye of Beatriz had become very ragged as the convective cloud tops warmed, and predicted progressive weakening in the next 24 hours. The storm is anticipated to become a remnant low then dissipate within 72 hours. Although the storm is weakening, it is still expected to bring heavy rainfall to coastal areas of southwestern Mexico before it becomes a remnant low and dissipates within the next 72 hours.
