Hurricane Gert

By Scott Lindstrom • 15 August 2017

GOES-16 imagery (all 16 ABI Bands) from 1912-2132 UTC, 15 August 2017 [click to play animation]

Hurricane Gert, a Category-1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, is over the open Atlantic Ocean east of Cape Hatteras. It is close enough to the USA, however, that it is within GOES-16’s CONUS domain where 5-minute sampling is routine. The animation above shows all 16 channels from GOES-16 ABI, every five minutes from 1912-2132 UTC on 15 August 2017. A distinct eye is not apparent in the visible or infrared satellite imagery, but microwave data (from here) suggests an eye is present, at least at times. A comparison of 2035 UTC DMSP-16 SSMIS Microwave (85 GHz) and 2045 UTC GOES-13 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images can be seen here.

The low-level Water Vapor imagery, below, shows that Gert is south and east of a front along the East Coast. This front should steer the storm to the north and east. Swells from the storm will affect the East Coast however.

GOES-16 Low-Level Water Vapor (7.34 µm) Infrared Imagery from 1832-2137 UTC, 15 August 2017 [click to play animation]

GOES-16 ABI Imagery from the morning of 16 August 2017, below, shows that an eye has appeared in visible and infrared imagery.

GOES-16 imagery (all 16 ABI Bands) from 1117-1337 UTC, 16 August 2017 [click to play animation]

GOES-16 Visible (0.64 µm, top) and Infrared Window (10.3 µm, bottom) images [click to play MP4 animation]

Categories: DMSP, General interpretation, GOES-13, GOES-16, Other Satellites, Tropical cyclones