September 08, 2010
GOES-13 Catches Tropical Storm Igor Forming in Far Eastern Atlantic
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite called GOES-13 keeps an eye on the Atlantic Ocean for developing tropical cyclones, and when Tropical Storm Igor formed this morning it appeared near the eastern edge of GOES-13's "sight."
The GOES-13 satellite captured a visible image of the newly formed Tropical Storm Igor at 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 UTC) on September 8, just west of the African Coast. GOES satellites are operated by NOAA, and images and animations are created by the NASA GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Even though just "born," Igor is already a trouble-maker as a tropical storm watch is already up for the southern Cape Verde Islands today.
The government of the Cape Verde Islands has issued a tropical storm watch for the southern Cape Verde Islands including Maio, Sao Tiago, Fogo and Brava. The Cape Verde Islands are an island country that includes an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Western Africa. A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area within the next 12 to 24 hours for Igor.
At 11 a.m. EDT on Sept. 8, Tropical Storm Igor had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph. Igor is centered about 95 miles southeast of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands near 13.7 North and 23.5 West. It is moving west at 8 mph and has a minimum central pressure of 1005 millibars.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. noted that slow strengthening is forecast over the next two days.
Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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