image: This image from NOAA's GOES-West satellite on May 30 shows remnant clouds from post-tropical cyclone Amanda near the western coast of Mexico. view more
Credit: Image Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project
A new animation of visible and infrared imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite shows the weakening and dissipation of the Eastern Pacific Ocean's Hurricane Amanda. The animation that runs from from May 28 to May 30 was created at NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
On satellite imagery, Amanda last resembled a tropical cyclone on May 28 around 21:45 UTC (5:45 p.m. EDT) when it still had a comma shape to it. On May 29, Amanda ceased to qualify as a tropical cyclone, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The 45 second animation shows how Amanda's circulation weakened as the thunderstorm development waned and the circulation center became harder to identify. To create the video and imagery, NASA/NOAA's GOES Project used cloud data from NOAA's GOES-West satellite and overlayed it on a true-color image of ocean and land created by data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. Together, those data created the entire picture of Amanda's last days.
NHC issued their final warning on post-tropical cyclone Amanda on May 29 at 21:00 UTC (5:00 p.m. EDT). At that time, Amanda's maximum sustained winds were near 25 knots and weakening. It was located near 16.2 north latitude and 109.0 west longitude, about 465 nautical miles south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
By May 29 at 23:15 UTC (5:45 p.m. EDT), the circulation was barely identifiable on GOES-West satellite imagery as the post-tropical cyclone moved east toward mainland Mexico.
On May 30, the remnant low pressure area formerly known as Amanda was located near 17.0 north latitude and 109 west longitude. The minimum central pressure of the remnant low was near 1008 millibars. The NHC noted "Although this low is currently Embedded within a broad area of deep moisture...upper level drier air is starting to approach from the northwest."
GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on Earth's surface, appearing stationary. As a result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes.
Now that Amanda has faded into hurricane history as the strongest May hurricane on record in the Eastern Pacific, forecasters and satellites are now keeping an eye on a developing area of disturbed weather several hundred miles south of southeastern Mexico.
For more information about GOES satellites, visit: http://www.goes.noaa.gov or goes.gsfc.nasa.gov
Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center