Watch: Not just one but TWO hurricane-force storms swirling in the North Atlantic Ocean

By Tom Yulsman | February 22, 2018 8:51 pm
An animation of GOES-16 weather satellite images shows two hurricane-force storms swirling in the North Atlantic Ocean over the course of about 16 hours starting on Feb. 18, 2018. (Source: RAMMB GOES-16 loop of the day)

An animation of GOES-16 weather satellite images of the North Atlantic Ocean starting on Feb. 18, 2018 and covering about 16 hours. (Source: RAMMB GOES-16 loop of the day)

In recent days, two powerful storms packing hurricane-force winds have spun up in the North Atlantic. You can watch them in the animation above of GOES-16 satellite imagery. It was posted to the awesome GOES-16 Loop of the Day website.

The storm closer to North America was so strong that it churned the waters up into stupendous waves higher than 60 feet tall:

That would be almost high enough to inundate the White House.

Here’s what went into the animation: The GOES-16 satellite collected data in different portions of the infrared spectrum. Processing was then applied to bring out different characteristics of the scene, including moisture, cloud cover, and large features associated with air masses.

The result is “RGB Airmass” imagery. In the false-color scheme, shades of red and deep pink are an indication of strong winds aloft that are mixing down toward the surface in the hurricane-force storms. Greens show warm air masses, blues are cold, and white shows high-level clouds.

Hurricane-force storm

Satellite view of the North Atlantic on Feb. 19, 2018. (Source: NASA Worldview)

The image above shows what the closest storm looked like in natural color. It was acquired by NASA’s Terra satellite on Feb. 19.

CATEGORIZED UNDER: Remote Sensing, select, Top Posts, Weather
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ImaGeo

ImaGeo is a visual blog focusing on the intersection of imagery, imagination and Earth. It focuses on spectacular visuals related to the science of our planet, with an emphasis (although not an exclusive one) on the unfolding Anthropocene Epoch.

About Tom Yulsman

Tom Yulsman is Director of the Center for Environmental Journalism and a Professor of Journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He also continues to work as a science and environmental journalist with more than 30 years of experience producing content for major publications. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Audubon, Climate Central, Columbia Journalism Review, Discover, Nieman Reports, and many other publications. He has held a variety of editorial positions over the years, including a stint as editor-in-chief of Earth magazine. Yulsman has written one book: Origins: the Quest for Our Cosmic Roots, published by the Institute of Physics in 2003.

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