Hurricane Maria downgraded to a Tropical Storm off the East Coast

By Scott Bachmeier • 26 September 2017

GOES-13 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) image, with Deep-Layer Wind Shear product [click to enlarge]

* GOES-16 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational and are undergoing testing *

After its final 2 days of northward motion as a Category 1 storm well southeast of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Hurricane Maria was downgraded to a Tropical Storm at 2100 UTC on 26 September 2017. A comparison of the 2345 UTC September GOES-13 (GOES-East) Infrared Window (10.7 µm) image and an overlay of the 00 UTC 27 September Deep-Layer Wind Shear product (above) showed that Maria had been moving northward into an environment of increasing northeasterly shear, aiding the decrease of storm organization and intensity. However, due to the large size of the strong wind field associated with Maria, surface wind gusts as high as 59 mph were reported along the Outer Banks.

The effect of increasing wind shear was obvious in the satellite presentation of GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (below) — the low-level circulation center (LLCC) was becoming more exposed with time, while deep convection remained southeast of the LLCC.

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

GOES-16 Lower-level (7.3 µm), Mid-level (6.9 µm) and Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images [click to play MP4 animation]

Categories: GOES-16, Satellite winds, Tropical cyclones