NASA Satellite Shows a Mean Irene's Fury

The AIRS data create an accurate 3-D map of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and clouds, data that are useful to forecasters. The image shows the temperature of Irene's cloud tops or the surface of Earth in cloud-free regions. The coldest cloud-top temperatures appear in purple, indicating towering cold clouds and heavy precipitation. The infrared signal of AIRS does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds, AIRS reads the infrared signal from the surface of the ocean waters, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.

AIRS is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

More information about AIRS can be found at http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov. More on NASA's hurricane research and Irene is online at NASA's hurricanes/tropical cyclones website: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/main/index.html and the JPL TC-IDEAS hurricane website: http://hurricanes.jpl.nasa.gov .

NASA Satellite Confirms Irene as a Big Rainmaker, She Makes Landfall in NYC

Rainfall was Irene's biggest issue, and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission provided a look at heavy rains within the storm as it made its way from the North Carolina coast to a landfall in New York City at 9 a.m. EDT today, August 28, 2011.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite can measure rainfall from its orbit high above the earth and on Saturday August, 27, 2011 at 1:50 p.m. EDT it revealed several areas of heavy rainfall within Irene around her eye and in her outer bands. At that time Irene's center of circulation was still well defined and Irene was dropping intense rainfall over Cape Hatteras east of the hurricane's center. Irene brought those heavy rains from North Carolina north to New England on Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28.

By 9 a.m. EDT, on Sunday August 28, the National Hurricane Center reported Irene's center made landfall in New York City as a tropical storm landfall with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. The heavy rainfall and the storm surge inundated New York City's Battery Park. Meanwhile, the Weather Channel reported 3.1 million people along the U.S. east coast were without power as a result of Hurricane Irene's strong winds and heavy rains.

NOAA's GOES-13 satellite, known as the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite has been providing infrared and visible images of Hurricane Irene before she was named last week. The NASA GOES Project out of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. created an image from GOES-13 at 8:32 a.m. EDT, just 28 minutes before Irene's landfall in New York City. The image showed Irene's huge cloud cover blanketing New England, New York and over Toronto, Canada. Shadows in Irene's clouds indicate the bands of thunderstorms that surround now tropical storm Irene.

So how much rain did the U.S. east coast states receive on August 27?

North Carolina impacts include widespread power outages, downed trees, downed power lines. Duck, N.C. reported widespread flooding. Eastern North Carolina received about a foot of rainfall, measuring between 10 to 14 inches in various locations. Cape Hatteras received a record-breaking 3.04 inches of rainfall on August 27. New Bern, N.C. received 4.49 inches of rainfall.

In Norfolk, Va., ABC 13 News reports that the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel was reopened at 7:00 a.m. today because winds had subsided. Another tunnel remained closed. The Virginia Dept. of Transportation was clearing water outside of the floodgates of the closed Midtown Tunnel.

Rainfall was intense in some areas of eastern Virginia. Virginia's Hampton Roads area received about 9 inches of rainfall, with isolated totals reaching 16 inches in some areas. At Wallops Island, Va. on the eastern shore, where NASA's Wallops Island facility is located, a record-breaking 6.18 inches of rainfall was recorded and a wind gust hit 62 mph. Norfolk experienced heavy rainfall, gusty winds and flooding. A storm surge of 7.63 feet at Sewells Point was reported on Saturday night and local Television reporter WTKR's Kurt Williams reported chest-deep floodwaters at the time.

At Dulles Airport, outside of Washington, D.C., 1.17 inches of rain fell on August 27 and the highest wind gust reported was 45 mph. Further south and west where the fringes of Irene reached, Charlottesville, Va. received only 0.44 inches of rainfall.

The District of Columbia reported trees and powerlines down as Irene passed through. Washington National Airport recorded 3.33 inches of rain on August 27, 2011.

In Maryland, widespread power outages and downed trees were reported. Historic downtown Annapolis did not flood as it did during Hurricane Isabel. The Baltimore Washington International Airport recorded 3.59 inches of rainfall from Irene on August 27 and strongest wind gust to 51 mph. The heaviest rain came to Maryland between 6 p.m. on August 27 and early on August 28. On Maryland's eastern shore, closest to the eye of Hurricane Irene, Salisbury, Md. reported a record breaking total of 5.58 inches. On the eastern shore, the popular vacation spot of Ocean City, Md. reported about 12 inches of rain, according to the Baltimore Sun. Sustained winds were near 60 miles per hour as Irene's center passed by Ocean City some 40-50 miles east.

Delmarva Power, the power company that brings electricity to Maryland's eastern shore and Delaware noted early on Sunday, Aug. 28 that 93,500 customers were still without power. Delaware reported record-breaking rainfall totals on Saturday, August 27. Wilmington, Del. reported 5.38 inches. The highest wind gust reported reached 56 mph.

Philadelphia International Airport logged 4.55 inches of rainfall on Aug. 27 and the highest winds recorded gusted to 52 mph.

In New Jersey, Hurricane Irene's eye made landfall Little Egg Inlet, N.J., at 5:35 a.m. EDT this morning on its way to New York City. Trenton reported 3.91 inches of rain on Aug. 27, and Atlantic City reported 4.39 inches where winds gusted to 55 mph. More heavy rain continued to fall on Sunday, Aug. 28.

In New York City (NYC) Irene's center made landfall around 9 a.m. EDT today. The National Weather Service noted that Battery Park New York City reported a total water level near 8.6 feet at 8 a.m. EDT, Sunday, August 28. John F. Kennedy International Airport logged a gust of wind at 58 mph. Watches and warnings are all in effect in New Jersey and New York and through New England.

Because 2-5 inches of rain has fallen across the NY/NJ Region in the last 18 hours, the additional 2-6 inches of rain area expected is expected to cause more flooding. Highest rainfall amounts expected from the New York City Metro area north and west.

New England, New York and Pennsylvania face the threat of flooding rains today as Irene continues her journey. Cities included under threat are Burlington, Vt.; Albany, N.Y.; New York City and Philadelphia, Pa. Hurricane Irene will continue to move inland, and head north-northeast on its way to Canada.

Although Irene was grabbing all of the attention, another tropical storm developed this morning in the Atlantic but poses no threat. Tropical Storm Jose formed near Bermuda causing tropical storm warnings for the island. At 8 a.m. EDT, Jose had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph and was moving to the north near 16 mph, a track he is expected to stay on, keeping him away from the U.S. east coast. Jose was located about 115 miles south-southwest of Bermuda near 30.8 North and 65.7 West. Although Bermuda residents are in for another soaking from Jose, the U.S. east coast will not feel Jose's effects as he'll remain at sea.