Hurricane Joaquin Tracked by NASA Satellites as it Hurtles Toward the United States

Hurricane Joaquin is barreling toward the United States. Now, NASA satellites are gathering a bit more information on the storm so that we can be a bit more prepared for when it hits.

Joaquin became a tropical storm on Monday evening (EDT), Sept. 29 when it was midway between the Bahamas and Bermuda. By 8 a.m. EDT on Sept. 30, it had strengthened into a hurricane, making it the third hurricane of the Atlantic Hurricane season.

On Sept. 29, Joaquin was moving very slowly toward the west-southwest about 400 miles east of the northwestern Bahamas. Rainfall rates were determined using two instruments aboard the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core satellite. These instruments included GPM's microwave imager and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar.

On Sept. 30, Joaquin strengthened. Hurricane force winds extended outward up to 35 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 125 miles.

While researchers are monitoring Joaquin, though, there's some uncertainty in the forecast track. Joaquin is expected to continue moving towards the Bahamas for the next day, taking the center very close to the islands, before turning northward ahead of an upper-level trough over the southeast United States.

It's expected that Joaquin will hit portions of the northeast United States on Tuesday and late Monday. However, it's still not certain exactly where Joaquin will hit at this time. NASA satellites will continue to monitor the storm in the meantime in order to predict a more accurate track.

For updates on the hurricane, visit NOAA's website.

Related Stories

New York City May Risk Future Flooding as Climate Change Worsens

NASA Spots Tropical Storm Marty with RapidScat Instrument

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).