Earth  ID: 12738

Intense String of Hurricanes Seen From Space

Released on October 4, 2017
In 2017, we have seen four Atlantic storms rapidly intensify with three of those storms - Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria - making landfall.

When hurricanes intensify a large amount in a short period, scientists call this process rapid intensification. This is the hardest aspect of a storm to forecast and it can be most critical to people’s lives.

While any hurricane can threaten lives and cause damage with storm surges, floods, and extreme winds, a rapidly intensifying hurricane can greatly increase these risks while giving populations limited time to prepare and evacuate.

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Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Complete transcript available.

Music credits: 'Micro Currents' by Jean-Patrick Voindrot [SACEM], 'Sink Deep' by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS], Mikey Rowe [PRS] from Killer Tracks.

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Rapid intensification is the hardest aspect of a storm to forecast and it can be most critical to people's lives. This GIF is optimized for posting on Twitter.
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Rapidly intensifying storms typically occur up to twice in a hurricane season. But in 2017, we have seen four storms rapidly intensify and scientists attribute this to warmer ocean waters and favorable winds. This GIF is optimized for posting on Twitter.
 

Source Material

Hurricane Jose lingers in the Atlantic as Hurricane Maria approaches Puerto Rico
GPM Examines Hurricane Irma
Harvey Floods Texas and Threatens Louisiana (Final Tropical Storm Update)
GPM Core Spacecraft Beauty Passes
Global Sea Surface Currents and Temperature

Alternate Version

NASA Has Eyes On The Atlantic Hurricane Season

Related

NASA Catches Hurricanes Jose and Maria
A Menacing Line of Hurricanes
NASA Captures Hurricane Harvey's Rainfall
Flying Over Hurricanes For New NASA Mission
Building a Hurricane Season in the Atlantic Ocean
A New Multi-dimensional View of a Hurricane

For More Information

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/main/index.html

Credits

Scientists:
Scott Braun (NASA/GSFC)
Amber Emory (NASA/GSFC)
Dalia B Kirschbaum (NASA/GSFC)
Stephen J. Munchak (University of Maryland)

Producer:
Joy Ng (USRA)

Support:
Patrick Lynch (NASA/GSFC)
Rob Gutro (NASA/GSFC)
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA)
Aries Keck (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12738

Missions:
GOES-R
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)

This item is part of this series:
Narrated Movies

Keywords:
DLESE >> Atmospheric science
SVS >> GPM
SVS >> Global Precipitation Measurement
SVS >> HDTV
DLESE >> Natural hazards
DLESE >> Physical oceanography
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Phenomena >> Hurricanes
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Phenomena >> Storms
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Ocean Temperature >> Sea Surface Temperature
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0