NASA sees Tropical Storm Florence still feeling the shear

NASA's Aqua satellite showed that the center of Tropical Storm Florence's circulation was still displaced to the southeast of the bulk of the storm indicating wind shear was still affecting the storm.

Infrared satellite data on Monday, Sept. 3 indicated vertical wind shear was affecting Florence. Imagery showed that the low-level center of Florence's circulation was southeast of the bulk of the tropical cyclone's clouds and that persists today, Sept. 4.

At 12:50 a.m. EDT (0450 UTC) on Sept. 4, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite looked Florence in infrared light. MODIS found coldest cloud tops had temperatures near minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 degrees Celsius) southeast of the bulk of Florence's clouds.

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), the National Hurricane Center or NHC noted "An earlier Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 or AMSR2 (aboard the GCOM-W1 satellite) overpass revealed a rather obvious tilt toward the east-northeast, indicative of the moderate southwesterly shear."

The center of Tropical Storm Florence was located near latitude 19.3 degrees north and longitude 42.0 degrees west. That's about 1,300 miles (2,090 km) east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles.

Florence is moving toward the west-northwest near 13 mph (20 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days followed by a turn toward the northwest around Friday. Maximum sustained winds are near 70 mph (110 km/h) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is expected through tonight, but some weakening is forecast on Wednesday. Afterward, gradual strengthening is forecast through the weekend.

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For updates on Florence, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

By Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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