Satellite animation shows System 91L developing in the Gulf of Mexico

Satellite animation shows System 91L developing in the Gulf of Mexico
This image of GOES-East satellite imagery shows the low developing near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on June 13 and moving north into the Gulf of Mexico by June 15. Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project

The National Hurricane Center is keeping a close eye on a developing tropical low pressure area in the south-central Gulf of Mexico. NOAA's GOES-East satellite provided imagery of the system, and an animation was created at NASA showing the development over two days. The system has a high chance for development into a tropical depression.

NOAA's GOES-East satellite sits in a fixed location providing continuous coverage of weather systems in the eastern U.S. and Atlantic Ocean basin. An animation of visible and infrared imagery of the low was created by NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The animation shows the low developing near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on June 13 and moving north into the Gulf of Mexico where it began to consolidate. The spin of the low pressure area became evident as the low moved off the Yucatan.

At 8 a.m. EDT on Monday, June 15 The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that the thunderstorm activity associated with System 91L have become a little more concentrated. NHC said, "The low continues to produce tropical-storm-force winds well to the east and northeast of the center. Upper-level winds are forecast to become more favorable for development while this system moves northwestward across the western Gulf of Mexico, and a or tropical storm could form at any time before the system reaches the Texas coast sometime tomorrow."

This animation of GOES-East satellite imagery shows the low developing near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on June 13 and moving north into the Gulf of Mexico by June 15. Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project

Regardless of further development the National Hurricane Center cautioned residents along the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. NHC said tropical storm conditions are possible along portions of the middle and upper Texas coast and the western Louisiana coast Monday night, June 15 and Tuesday, June 16. The system is also likely to bring heavy rainfall with possible flooding across portions of eastern Texas and western Louisiana.

Citation: Satellite animation shows System 91L developing in the Gulf of Mexico (2015, June 15) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2015-06-satellite-animation-91l-gulf-mexico.html
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