image: On Tuesday evening, Aug. 23, 2011 Irene was a category 1 hurricane, in the process of intensifying to category 3 in less than 12 hours. Consistent with intensification, NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite radar showed that Irene had a complete eyewall circling its eye along with a region of intense convection on the eastern side of the eyewall (right side of image). Some studies suggest that bursts of convection in one portion of a hurricane's eyewall may help to pump latent heat into a hurricane and thereby assist with intensification. view more
Credit: NASA