image: At 1:40 a.m. EDT (0540 UTC) on June 14, the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite gathered infrared data on Tropical Storm Bud. Strongest thunderstorms were north of the center, where cloud top temperatures were as cold as minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 Celsius). view more
Credit: Credits: NASA/NRL
NASA's Terra satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Storm Bud that revealed strongest storms were in a band extending from north to east of the center. That's where the heaviest rainfall was occurring. Despite the heaviest rain being over the Eastern Pacific Ocean, tropical storm force winds were lashing southern Baja California.
At 1:40 a.m. EDT (0540 UTC) on June 14 the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite gathered infrared data on Tropical Storm Bud. Infrared data provides temperature information. Strongest thunderstorms were north of Bud's center where MODIS found cloud top temperatures as cold as minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 Celsius). NASA research has shown that cloud tops with temperatures that cold were high in the troposphere and have the ability to generate heavy rain.
At 11 a.m. EDT on June 14, NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that Bud was lashing southern Baja California Sur with tropical-storm-force winds. At that time, a Tropical Storm Warning was in effect from Santa Fe to La Paz, Mexico, including Cabo San Lucas.
The center of Tropical Storm Bud was located near latitude 21.7 degrees north and longitude 109.6 degrees west. That's about 85 miles (135 km) south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
The NHC said that Bud was moving toward the north-northwest near 7 mph (11 kph). A faster northward motion should begin later today. On the forecast track, the center of Bud is expected to cross southern Baja California Sur later today and move over the Gulf of California on Friday.
Maximum sustained winds remain near 45 mph (75 kph) with higher gusts. Although weakening is expected, Bud is forecast to still be a tropical storm when the center reaches southern Baja California Sur later today, June 14, but is expected to weaken as the cyclone moves across the peninsula. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1000 millibars.
NHC's forecast noted that Bud should decay into a tropical depression by Friday and become a remnant low while it moves inland over mainland Mexico.
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For updated forecasts on Bud, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
By Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center