image: NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured this visible image of Tropical Depression Erin on Aug. 16 at 1445 UTC/10:45 a.m. EDT. view more
Credit: Image Credit: NASA GOES Project
Tropical Storm Erin ran into cooler waters and dry, stable air over the Eastern Atlantic that sapped its strength and weakening the storm to depression status. NOAA's GOES-East satellite showed the storm waning today.
NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Depression Erin on Aug. 16 at 1445 UTC/10:45 a.m. EDT. The image was created by NASA's GOES Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. and showed that the storm still had good circulation, but the clouds and showers had diminished. The National Hurricane Center noted that Erin's structure consists of a low-level cloud swirl with a couple of small areas of convection south and east of the center.
At 11 a.m. EDT/1500 UTC, Erin's maximum sustained winds dropped to near 35 mph/55 kph. NOAA's National Hurricane Center expects little change in strength over the next couple of days. The center of Tropical Depression Erin was located near latitude 16.9 north and longitude 32.1 west, about 540 miles/870 km west of the Cape Verde Islands. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1008 millibars. The depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 17 mph/28 kph. Erin is expected to continue in that general direction and slow down in a couple of days while maintaining strength.