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Georgette (Eastern Pacific)

Satellite Tracks the Remnants of Tropical Storm Georgette

Tropical Storm Georgette faded fast in the Eastern Pacific and NOAA’s GOES-West satellite captured an image of the remnant clouds.

NOAA’s GOES-West satellite captured a visible light image of the remnant clouds associated with former Tropical Storm Celia at 1715 UTC (1:15 p.m. EDT). The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued their final advisory on the storm at 11 a.m. EDT when they noted that Georgette had become a remnant low pressure area.

GOES West image of Georgette
NOAA’s GOES-West satellite captured a visible image of the remnants of former Tropical Storm Georgette.
Credits: NASA/NOAA GOES Project

Georgette had no organized strong convection and thunderstorm development since about 0100 UTC (July 26 at 9 p.m. EDT) and that’s apparent in the GOES image where the storm appears as a swirl of clouds, mostly north and west of the center. The image was created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Georgette was located near latitude 19.5 North, longitude 129.7 West. That’s about 1,295 miles (2,085 km) west of the southern tip of Baja California. The post-tropical cyclone was moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph (15 kph). At the time, maximum sustained winds had decreased to near 35 mph (55 kph).

The remnants were moving over cooler sea surface temperatures which are expected to help dissipate them within three days.

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

July 26, 2016 – Eastern Pacific Storms Georgette and Frank See-Saw in Strength

Two tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean have see-sawed in strength today, July 26, 2016.

Georgette and Frank seen by AIRS
NASA’s Aqua satellite showed colder (purple) cloud top temperatures in Frank (right) July 26 at 0959 UTC as it became a hurricane and warming temperatures in Georgette (left) as it weakened to a tropical storm.
Credits: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen

Infrared satellite imagery from NASA’s Aqua satellite showed colder cloud top temperatures in Frank today as it became a hurricane and warming temperatures in Georgette as it weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm. The infrared data, taken July 26 at 0959 UTC (5:59 a.m. EDT) showed a much smaller Tropical Storm Georgette in comparison to the now hurricane, Frank. 

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 26, 2016, the center of Tropical Storm Georgette was located near latitude 18.4 North, longitude 128.6 West. Georgette is moving toward the northwest near 3 mph (6 kph).  A motion toward the northwest with some increase in forward speed is expected during the next couple of days. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 70 mph (110 kph) with higher gusts. 

RapidScat image of Georgette
RapidScat passed directly over Tropical Storm Georgette on July 25 and saw strongest sustained winds around the center near 27 meters per second (60.4 mph/97.2 kph.
Credits: NASA JPL/Doug Tyler

The National Hurricane Center noted that additional weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Georgette could degenerate to a remnant low pressure area by Thursday, July 28.

For updates on Georgette, visit the NHC website: www.nhc.noaa.gov.

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

July 25, 2016 – NASA Spies Major Hurricane Georgette

Hurricane Georgette is a major hurricane in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible image of the powerful storm that showed a clear eye.

On July 24, at 21:20 UTC (5:20 p.m. EDT) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite captured an image of Hurricane Georgette in the eastern Pacific Ocean that showed an open eye with strong bands of thunderstorms circling the center.   

Suomi NPP image of Georgette
On July 24, at 21:20 UTC (5:20 p.m. EDT) NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite saw Hurricane Georgette in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Credits: NASA/NOAA/DOD

Shortly after Suomi NPP captured the visible image, Georgette’s maximum sustained winds had increased to near 130 mph (215 kph) and Georgette became a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Just 12 hours later, Georgette’s eye became cloud-filled as the storm started to weaken. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted on July 24 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) that “Georgette’s small eye has become filled in infrared imagery and the coverage and symmetry of cold tops in the central dense overcast have decreased.”

At that time the center of Hurricane Georgette was located near 17.5 north latitude and 127.3 west latitude. That’s about 1,185 miles (1,910 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. 

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 120 mph (195 kph). Georgette is major hurricane, a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.  

Georgette is a small hurricane. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 10 miles (20 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles (75 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 961 millibars.

Georgette is moving toward the northwest near 9 mph (15 kph) and this motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days.

NHC Forecaster Brennan said that quick weakening is expected as the cyclone will be moving over progressively cooler sea surface temperatures and into a drier and more stable air mass. NHC expects Georgette to become a remnant low in about 3 days, by July 28.

For updates on Georgette, visit the NHC website: www.nhc.noaa.gov.

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

July 22, 2016 – NASA’s GPM Observes Newly Formed Tropical Storm Georgette

As Tropical Storm Georgette was forming, the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite flew overhead and gathered data that showed an intensifying storm.

The eastern Pacific Ocean continues to show that its environment is favorable for the birth of tropical cyclones. Tropical Depression 8-E developed early on July 22 hours later strengthened into Tropical Storm Georgette. Georgette quickly follows Tropical Storm Frank as the latest example of tropical cyclogenesis in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

GPM image of Georgette
On July 22, NASA/JAXA’s GPM found extremely heavy rain (red) falling at a rate of over 224 mm (8.8 inches) per hour and cloud top heights over 14 km (8.7 miles) high in storms south of Georgette’s center.
Credits: NASA/JAXA/SSAI, Hal Pierce

The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite examined Tropical Depression 8E (TD8E) when it flew directly above on July 22, 2016 at 0931 UTC (5:31 a.m. EDT). At that time maximum sustained winds were only estimated to be about 30 knots (34.5 mph). Rainfall was examined in TD8E using data collected by GPM’s Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments. Extremely heavy rain falling at a rate of over 224 mm (8.8 inches) per hour was found by DPR in convective storms southwest of TD8’s center of circulation.

GPM’s Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instrument (Ku Band), developed by JAXA and NICT (also of Japan) was used to measure the three-dimensional structure of precipitation within TD08E. Several storm top heights southwest of TD8E’s center were found by DPR to reach altitudes of over 14 km (8.7 miles). GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.

On July 22 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) Tropical Depression 8E strengthened into a tropical storm and was named Georgette. At that time, the center of Tropical Storm Georgette was located near 12.3 north latitude and 117.1 west longitude 

On July 22, NASA/JAXA’s GPM found extremely heavy rain (red) falling at a rate of over 224 mm (8.8 inches) per hour and cloud top heights over 14 km (8.7 miles) high in storms south of Georgette’s center.
Credits: NASA/JAXA/SSAI, Hal Pierce

Georgette is moving toward the west-northwest near 13 mph (20 kph), and this motion is expected to continue through Saturday.  A west- northwestward motion at a slower forward speed is forecast late Saturday and Sunday.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 45 mph (75 kph) and the National Hurricane Center said additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours. Georgette is expected to become a hurricane by late Saturday, July 23. For updated forecasts, visit the NHC webpage: www.nhc.noaa.gov.

Hal Pierce / Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center