CIMSS Satellite Blog

GOES-16 Visible 0.64 µm Imagery, 1144-1243 UTC on 5 September 2017 (Click to animate)

GOES-16 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational and are undergoing testing

Hurricane Irma, northeast of Antigua and Barbuda in the Lesser Antilles, achieved Category 5 status on 5 September, based on aircraft reconnaissance. The symmetric storm with a clear eye (that includes mesoscale vortices) is shown above with 1-minute imagery from GOES-16.

GOES-16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper data, below, shows lightning occurring in the outer bands of the storm. Two-hour animations, updated every 15 minutes, of GLM data superimposed over Visible (0.64 µm) or over Infrared (10.3 µm) imagery. are available at the links (Imagery courtesy Dave Santek, SSEC).

GOES-16 ABI Visible (0.64 µm) every 15 minutes, 1100-1315 UTC 5 September 2017, with 3-minute increments of GLM Group data plotted (Yellow Points: oldest; Red Points: Latest) (Click to enlarge)

Interests throughout the Greater Antilles, the northern Lesser Antilles, the Bahamas and the southeastern United States including Florida should be monitoring this storm closely, and preparing for its arrival. For more information, refer to the National Hurricane Center website, or the CIMSS Tropical Weather Website.

from CIMSS Satellite Blog http://ift.tt/2w2QyzK