Tag: Karina 2020

Sep. 16, 2020 – NASA Sees Tropical Storm Karina’s Night Moves

Tropical Storm Karina was making night moves like the old Bob Seger song. NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite provided an infrared image of Tropical Storm Karina’s nighttime movement as it moved away from the Baja California peninsula of Mexico. Infrared data showed the storm was weakening.

NASA’s Night-Time View of Karina’s Weakening

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP was used to capture a nighttime image of Karina. NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed over the Eastern Pacific Ocean during the early morning of Sept. 16 at 3 a.m. PDT/6 a.m. EDT (1000 UTC) and captured a nighttime image of Tropical Storm Karina moving farther away from Baja California, Mexico.

The infrared imagery revealed that there was very little deep convection (and building thunderstorms). Cloud top temperatures were near minus 40 degrees Celsius, which indicates they are warming and cloud heights are dropping. It is an indication that the uplift in the storm is weakening, and thunderstorm development drops off. The coldest cloud tops were found well to the west-northwest of the center of circulation.

The image was created using the NASA Worldview application at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Karina’s Status on Sept. 16

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Karina was located near latitude 22.6 degrees north and longitude 123.9 degrees west.  Karina is moving toward the northwest near 8 mph (13 kph), and a turn back toward the west-northwest is forecast today.  A slower westward motion is expected toward the end of the week. Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph (65 kph) with higher gusts. Continued weakening is forecast, and Karina is expected to become a remnant low by tonight. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1004 millibars.

Karina’s Forecast

“Karina is expected to continue traversing cooler waters while moving farther into an inhibiting thermodynamic environment and unfavorable upper-level winds,” noted U.S. Navy Hurricane Specialist Dave Roberts of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. “Therefore, weakening is forecast and Karina should degenerate to a remnant low [pressure area] tonight.”

About NASA’s EOSDIS Worldview

NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks “right now.”

NASA Researches Earth from Space

For more than five decades, NASA has used the vantage point of space to understand and explore our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA brings together technology, science, and unique global Earth observations to provide societal benefits and strengthen our nation. Advancing knowledge of our home planet contributes directly to America’s leadership in space and scientific exploration.

For updated forecasts, visit: www.nhc.noaa.gov

By Rob Gutro 
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Sep. 15, 2020 – A NASA-NOAA Nighttime View Finds a Slightly Better Organized Tropical Storm Karina

NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite provided an infrared look at Tropical Storm Karina in the Eastern Pacific Ocean that gave forecasters a nighttime view of the storm. It revealed a slightly more organized tropical storm.

NASA’s Night-Time View  

On Sept. 15 at 6:50 a.m. EDT (3:50 a.m. PDT/1050 UTC), the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP passed over the Eastern Pacific Ocean and captured an early morning image of Tropical Storm Karina. The image showed that Karina continued to become a little better organized with a concentrated area of deep convection near and over the estimated low-level center. The image was created using the NASA Worldview application at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

By 11 a.m. EDT (8 a.m. PDT) on Sept. 15, Andrew Latto, Hurricane Specialist at NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. noted in the storm’s Discussion, “Karina has changed little in organization over the past several hours. [It has] a concentrated area of deep convection mostly over the southwestern portion of the circulation and over the estimated position of the low-level center.”

Karina’s Status on Sept. 15

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Karina was located near latitude 20.4 degrees north and longitude 121.1 degrees west. That is about 740 miles (1,190 km) west of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico.

Karina was moving toward the northwest near 10 mph (17 kph), and this motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. A turn to the west and then toward the west-southwest is expected late this week. Maximum sustained winds were near 60 mph (95 kph) with higher gusts. Some weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours. The estimated minimum central pressure was 996 millibars.

Karina’s Forecast

“The cyclone is forecast to move over progressively cooler waters and into a drier, more stable atmosphere over the next couple of days. These conditions should induce a weakening trend soon, and the deep convection is expected to gradually wane during that time,” Latto said in the Discussion.

Gradual weakening should begin by tonight, and Karina is forecast to become a remnant low in two or three days.

About NASA’s EOSDIS Worldview

NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks “right now.”

NASA Researches Earth from Space

For more than five decades, NASA has used the vantage point of space to understand and explore our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA brings together technology, science, and unique global Earth observations to provide societal benefits and strengthen our nation. Advancing knowledge of our home planet contributes directly to America’s leadership in space and scientific exploration.

For updated forecasts, visit: www.hurricanes.gov

By Rob Gutro 
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Sep. 14, 2020 – NASA’s Water Vapor Analysis of Tropical Storm Karina Shows Wind Shear Effects

When NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the Eastern Pacific Ocean, it gathered water vapor data on Tropical Storm Karina. The data showed that the storm was being affected by wind shear from the northeast, pushing the bulk of clouds to the southwest.

Karina formed late on Saturday, Sept. 12 as Tropical Depression 16E (TD16E). TD16E developed about 470 miles (755 km) south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. Six hours later at 5 a.m. EDT on Sept. 13, the depression organized and strengthened into a tropical storm and was renamed Karina.

A Look at Water Vapor Content

Water vapor analysis of tropical cyclones tells forecasters how much potential a storm has to develop. Water vapor releases latent heat as it condenses into liquid. That liquid becomes clouds and thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone. Temperature is important when trying to understand how strong storms can be. The higher the cloud tops, the colder and stronger the storms.

On Sept. 14 at 6:05 a.m. EDT (1005 UTC), NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Karina in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument gathered water vapor content and temperature information and found highest concentrations of water vapor and coldest cloud top temperatures were southwest of the center. That is because of strong northeasterly wind shear pushing the strong storms away from the center of circulation.

MODIS data showed coldest cloud top temperatures in those storms were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 degrees Celsius) in those storms. Storms with cloud top temperatures that cold have the capability to produce heavy rainfall.

“Karina continues to be a sheared cyclone with the deep convection displaced to the southwest of the exposed low-level center,” noted Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami. “Recent scatterometer [instrument that analyzes winds] data showed winds up to 40 knots in the southern semicircle, and thus the initial intensity remains 40 knots.”

Wind Shear Affecting Karina

The shape of a tropical cyclone provides forecasters with an idea of its organization and strength. When outside winds batter a storm, it can change the storm’s shape. Winds can push most of the associated clouds and rain to one side of a storm.

In general, wind shear is a measure of how the speed and direction of winds change with altitude. Tropical cyclones are like rotating cylinders of winds. Each level needs to be stacked on top each other vertically in order for the storm to maintain strength or intensify. Wind shear occurs when winds at different levels of the atmosphere push against the rotating cylinder of winds, weakening the rotation by pushing it apart at different levels.

Karina’s Status on Sept. 14

At 5 a.m. EDT (2 a.m. PDT/0900 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Karina was located near latitude 17.9 degrees north and longitude 118.2 degrees west. Karina is centered 640 miles (1,025 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico.  Karina is moving toward the west near 13 mph (20 kph). Maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph (75 kph) with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 150 miles (240 km) from the center. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1001 millibars.

Karina’s Forecast

A turn toward the northwest is expected by tonight, Sept. 14, with this motion continuing for the next few days. Some slight strengthening is forecast in the next 24 hours, with gradual weakening expected to begin on Tuesday.

NASA’s Aqua satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for hurricane research.

NASA Researches Tropical Cyclones

Hurricanes/tropical cyclones are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For more than five decades, NASA has used the vantage point of space to understand and explore our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA brings together technology, science, and unique global Earth observations to provide societal benefits and strengthen our nation. Advancing knowledge of our home planet contributes directly to America’s leadership in space and scientific exploration.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center