New imagery of Arthur

International Space Station Captures Image of Arthur Looking out the window of the International Space Station, astronauts spotted a sprawling mass of clouds. The clouds were just beginning to take shape as the first tropical storm of the 2014 season built over the Atlantic. Tropical Storm Arthur formed off southern Florida on July 1, 2014. By morning of July 2, when an astronaut took this photo with a wide-angle lens, the storm was moving north along the Florida coast. Surrounded by bright green waters, the Bahamas Islands are south of the storm in the lower right corner of the photo. The U.S. coastline stretches along the left side of the photo.

Arthur is forecast to become a hurricane over the next two days.

Arthur is now a Catergory 2 Hurricane with sustained winds of 90mph.

It may graze or strike the Outer Banks of North Carolina as it moves north. The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch or tropical storm warning for much of coastal North Carolina and a tropical storm watch for part of South Carolina. Please visit the National Hurricane Center for the latest warnings.

Reference:  National Hurricane Center (2014, July 2) Tropical Storm Arthur. Accessed July 2, 2014.

Astronaut photograph ISS040-E-030560 was acquired on July 2, 2014, with a Nikon D3S digital camera using a wide-angle (19 mm) lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 40 crew The image in this article has been enhanced to improve contrast. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

Text credit: Holli Riebeek

NASA’s Earth Observatory

This visible image of Tropical Storm Arthur was taken by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite on July 2 at 18:50 UTC (2:50 p.m. EDT). A cloud-covered eye is clearly visible.

Image Credit:

NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

This false-colored infrared image from the AIRS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite on July 3 at 2:47 p.m. EDT shows powerful thunderstorms (purple) around Arthur’s center. The powerful, high cloud tops had temperatures near -63F/-53C. Image Credit:NASA JPL/Ed Olsen

July 03, 2014 – Morning – NASA Sees Hurricane Arthur’s Cloud-Covered Eye When NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Arthur on July 2 at 2:50 p.m. EDT on July 2, it saw a cloud-covered eye as the storm was on the way to becoming a hurricane.

This visible image of Tropical Storm Arthur was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. Arthur’s center was over the Atlantic Ocean and east of Florida’s northeast coast. By 5 a.m. EDT on July 3, Arthur’s eye had formed but remained cloud covered even as the storm hit hurricane-strength with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured infrared data on Tropical Storm Arthur’s cloud tops on July 3 at 2:47 p.m. EDT. The data was made into a false-colored infrared image at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The image showed powerful thunderstorms around Arthur’s center with temperatures near -63F/-53C. Cloud tops that cold tower to the near the top of the troposphere and have the ability to produce heavy rainfall.

By 8 a.m. EDT on July 3, watches and warnings peppered the U.S. Southeast. The National Hurricane Center or NHC issued the following: a hurricane warning is in effect for Surf City, North Carolina to the North Carolina/Virginia Border, Pamlico Sound and the Eastern Albemarle Sound. A hurricane watch is in effect for the Little River Inlet to south of Surf City. In addition, a tropical storm warning is in effect for South Santee River, South Carolina to south of Surf City; the North Carolina/Virginia border to Cape Charles Light; and Virginia, including the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay; and the Western Albemarle Sound.

On July 3 at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) the center of Hurricane Arthur was near latitude 31.8 north and longitude 78.7 west. That puts Arthur’s center about 300 miles (480 km) southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and just 150 miles (240 km) south-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 80 mph (130 kph) and some additional strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours.

The National Hurricane Center noted that Arthur is moving toward the north-northeast near 9 mph (15 kph and a turn to the northeast is expected. Arthur’s center is expected to approach the coast in the hurricane warning area tonight, July 3.

Forecaster Brennan noted in the July 3 discussion on Arthur that after moving very close to the North Carolina Outer Banks late on July 3 and early July 4, the storm should then accelerate northeastward offshore of the mid-Atlantic states and the northeastern U.S. on July 4.  By July 5, the NHC expects Arthur to move into the Canadian Maritimes.

Text credit:  Rob Gutro

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center