October 3, 2020 - Hurricane Marie

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   Hurricane Marie
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   Tropical Depression 18E formed on the afternoon of September 29, 2020,
   well southwest of the southwestern coast of Mexico. Twelve hours later
   the depression strengthened into a tropical storm and the National
   Hurricane Center (NHC) gave it the name Marie. Marie experienced a
   short life as a tropical storm, with wind speeds increasing enough to
   bring it to hurricane status by the afternoon of September 30. After a
   rapid and intense intensification, Hurricane Marie became a major
   hurricane by the next day.

   At 5:00 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), the NHC reported Hurricane Marie had
   become a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale,
   with maximum sustained winds increasing to 130 mph (215 km/h) with
   higher gusts. Hurricane-force winds extended outwards up to 125 miles
   (205 km). At that time, the center of Hurricane Marie was located near
   latitude 16.2 degrees north and longitude 123.2 degrees west, or about
   980 miles (1,580 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja
   California. It was moving towards the west-northwest at about 15 mph
   (24 km/h), taking it into open ocean.

   Hurricane Marie has maintained her strength through the afternoon of
   October 2, remaining at Category 4 status. The NCH advises that Marie
   should remain in a low-shear environment and over warmer waters for the
   next 24 hours, during which time additional strengthening is possible.
   After 24 hours, Marie should interact with increasing wind shear and
   cooler waters, taking the punch out of the system and putting the storm
   on a weakening trend. Forecasts suggest that Hurricane Marie should
   drop to tropical storm strength within 72 hours, then continuing to
   weaken to a depression by mid-week.

   The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board
   NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of Hurricane Marie
   on October 1 as the storm neared peak strength. At that time, Marie
   sported a distinct eye and tight circulation near the center, giving
   the center of the storm the tight apostrophe-shape often seen in strong
   hurricanes. Bands of rain stretched towards the northwest and the
   southwest.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 10/1/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (656.3 KB),  500m (2 MB),
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-10-03
 
