From NASA Goddard- Atlantic hurricane season sticks to the calendar: System 93L

This visible image from the GOES-13 satellite on June 1 at 1445 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT) shows the low pressure area off the northeastern Florida coast as a small rounded area of clouds. The circular shaded areas in the center are higher thunderstorms. NASA/GOES Project

NOTE: I’ve posted the most current image below, the system has already crossed the Florida peninsula and is now in the Gulf of Mexico – Anthony

Hurricane season starts today, June 1, in the Atlantic Ocean and the tropics are paying attention to the calendar. The GOES-13 satellite has been capturing images of a low pressure area that formed off the North Carolina coast yesterday and is now located off of the northeastern Florida coast.

The low pressure area, also known as System 93L appears somewhat elongated, almost rounded area of clouds on the satellite imagery today, stretching from southwest to northeast. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite called GOES-13 has been capturing imagery of the low since it formed. The visible image from June 1 at 1445 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT) has some shadows in the middle of the storm, which indicate that there are some towering, strong thunderstorms near the circulation center that are casting shadows onto the lower thunderstorms.

NASA’s GOES Project, located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. creates imagery and animations of GOES satellite data. The GOES series of satellites are operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. To see the latest animation of the GOES satellite imagery in “Hurricane Alley” in the Atlantic Ocean visit: http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov and click on “Hurricane Alley HDTV” on the top right side of the NASA GOES webpage.

At 8 a.m. EDT, the center of the low was about 200 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida and was moving west-southwest near 20 mph. It is forecast to move over northern Florida later today toward the Florida Panhandle. It has a medium chance of becoming the Atlantic hurricane season’s first tropical depression in the next 24 hours.

The low does mean some scattered strong thunderstorms are in the forecast for northeastern Florida and isolated thunderstorms in southeastern Georgia today. The National Weather Service noted that some of the thunderstorms could contain wind gusts to 50 mph, small hail, frequent cloud to ground lightning and heavy rainfall.

In addition to the threat of severe thunderstorms, the low is also creating rip currents and building swells along the eastern Florida beaches. For updates, visit NASA’s Hurricane Web Page at: www.nasa.gov/hurricane

If the low does intensify into a tropical storm it would receive the name Arlene. However, it must first reach tropical depression status. Even if it doesn’t become a depression it still means severe weather for northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia today.

UPDATED Image:

Here’s the latest from NHC:

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
200 PM EDT WED JUN 1 2011

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...

A SMALL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED JUST TO THE EAST OF DAYTONA
BEACH FLORIDA IS MOVING WEST-SOUTHWESTWARD NEAR 20 MPH WITH
ASSOCIATED SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SPREADING OVER PORTIONS
OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL FLORIDA.  SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT OF THIS
SYSTEM IS NOT ANTICIPATED WHILE IT MOVES OVER LAND TODAY AND
TONIGHT...AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE ONLY MARGINALLY
FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT OVER THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO ON
THURSDAY.  LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE OVER
NORTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA THROUGH TONIGHT.  THERE IS A LOW CHANCE...20
PERCENT...OF THIS SYSTEM BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE
NEXT 48 HOURS.  FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS SYSTEM...PLEASE
SEE PRODUCTS FROM YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. 

DISORGANIZED CLOUDINESS AND SHOWERS OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN AND
WEST-CENTRAL CARIBBEAN SEA ARE ASSOCIATED WITH A BROAD SURFACE
TROUGH. SOME GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE ONCE
UPPER-LEVEL WINDS BECOME A LITTLE MORE CONDUCIVE LATE THURSDAY AND
FRIDAY.  THERE IS A LOW CHANCE...10 PERCENT...OF THIS SYSTEM
BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE AS IT MOVES LITTLE DURING THE NEXT 48
HOURS.

ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE
NEXT 48 HOURS.

ALL NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER TEXT AND GRAPHICAL PRODUCTS ARE
AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT WWW.HURRICANES.GOV.  SIGN UP FOR PRODUCT
UPDATES BY EMAIL AT WWW.HURRICANES.GOV/SIGNUP.SHTML...IN ALL LOWER
CASE.  YOU CAN ALSO INTERACT WITH US ON FACEBOOK AT
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/US.NOAA.NATIONALHURRICANECENTER.GOV.

$$
FORECASTER BERG/PASCH