[NASA:_National_Aeronautics_and_Space_Administration]
******_NASA_Earth_Observatory_******
    * Home
    * Image_of_the_Day
    * Feature_Articles
    * News
    * Natural_Hazards
    * Global_Maps
    * [q             ] Search
***** Hurricane Felix *****
 
[Hurricane_Felix]
download_large_image (830 KB, JPEG) acquired September 4, 2007
Hurricane Felix was approaching the Central American coastline on September 4,
2007, shortly after midnight local time (06:04 UTC), when the Tropical Rainfall
Measuring Mission satellite (TRMM) captured the data used to make this image.
The image shows rainfall rates within the powerful storm overlaid on a visible
image of the storm. Areas in which rainfall is heaviest are red, while regions
of lighter rainfall are blue.
Rainfall can reveal features of a storm’s structure that might not otherwise be
visible. In this case, a band of heavy rain circles the eye of the storm.
Additional distinct rain bands spiral out from the center of the storm. The
image also reveals that the heavy rain that Felix brought to Central America
was concentrated in a relatively small area.
At the time that TRMM observed Felix, the storm was strengthening from Category
4 to Category 5 status, with sustained winds near 215 kilometers per hour (135
miles per hour), according to the National_Hurricane_Center. Felix developed
very rapidly. The storm formed on the evening of August 31 and had grown into a
hurricane by the next day. By September 2, Felix had become a rare Category 5
storm. It was the second Category 5 storm to make landfall in as many weeks.
Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC).
  Instrument: 
      TRMM
** Image Location **
[Map showing image location]
** Previous Image in this Event **
[Hurricane_Felix] September 3, 2007
* Hurricane_Felix *
** Next Image in this Event **
[Hurricane_Felix] September 4, 2007
* Hurricane_Felix *
** View all images_of_this_event **
    * Browse by Topic
    * Fires
    * Severe_Storms
    * Dust,_Smoke,_and_Haze
    * Floods
    * Volcanoes_and_Earthquakes
    * Crops_and_Drought
    * Unique_Imagery
    * [Subscribe_to_the_Earth_Observatory]
    * feeds
    * • contact_us
    * • recommend_this_page
    * about_the_Earth_Observatory
    * • image_use_policy
    * • privacy_policy_&_important_notices
    * the Earth Observatory is part of the EOS_Project_Science_Office located
      at NASA_Goddard_Space_Flight_Center
    * webmaster: Goran Halusa
    * • NASA official: Lorraine Remer
last updated: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 24:01:21 GMT