image: On Aug. 21 at 3:15 p.m. EDT (1917 UTC) NASA's Aqua satellite analyzed cloud top temperatures in the remnants of Harvey and found cold temperatures and strong storms (purple) over the eastern Yucatan Peninsula, Belize and western Caribbean Sea. view more
Credit: Credits: NASA JPL/Ed Olsen
NASA's Aqua satellite provided an infrared look at the remnants of former Tropical Storm Harvey as it was affecting Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite looked at cloud top temperatures in Harvey's remnants using infrared light. The AIRS data were taken on August 21 at 3:15 p.m. EDT (1917 UTC). The image showed some very cold cloud top temperatures in thunderstorms over the eastern Yucatan Peninsula, Belize and western Caribbean Sea. Cloud top temperatures in those areas were as cold as minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius). NASA research has shown that storms with cloud tops that cold are high up in the troposphere and can generate heavy rainfall.
The infrared data was false-colored at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where AIRS data is managed.
At 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) on Aug. 22 the remnant storms associated with former Tropical Storm Harvey appeared disorganized over the Yucatan Peninsula and adjacent water areas.
The National Hurricane Center said "Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for development when the system moves over the Bay of Campeche tonight, and a tropical depression is expected to form over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, Aug. 23 or Thursday, Aug. 24.
NHC noted that regardless of development, locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds are expected to spread westward across Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula during the next day or so. The remnants have a high chance of reforming into a tropical cyclone over the next two to five days.
In addition, interests in northeastern Mexico and along the Texas coast should monitor the progress of this system.
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For updates on Harvey's remnants visit the NHC website: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.
Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.