(Press-News.org) In less than 24 hours after Tropical Depression 12-E was born in the eastern Pacific Ocean it strengthened into Tropical Storm Lowell. NOAA's GOES-West and NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared images of the massive storm as it continues to strengthen.
On August 18 at 21:11 UTC (5:11 p.m. EDT), NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Eastern Pacific and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument gathered infrared data on Lowell's clouds and sea surface temperatures. The AIRS infrared data showed that powerful thunderstorms stretching high into the troposphere (lowest layer of atmosphere) surrounded the center of the tropical cyclone and appeared in fragmented bands south and east of the center. Cloud top temperatures were near -63F/-52C, indicative of high cloud tops with storms packing a potential for heavy rain.
AIRS data is made into imagery and false-colored to better show temperature. The images are created at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
On August 19 at 5 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center discussion noted that Lowell's cloud pattern has become better organized during the last several hours with the associated banding features now beginning to wrap around the center.
NOAA's GOES-West satellite caught an infrared picture of Lowell at 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT) on August 19 that showed thick bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the center from the south and east. The image was created by NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. NOAA manages the GOES satellites and the NASA/NOAA GOES Project creates images and animations using the data.
At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) the center of Tropical Storm Lowell was located near latitude 17.3 north and longitude 119.0 west. That's about 705 miles (1,135 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. Lowell was moving toward the west-northwest near 7 mph (11 kph) and the NHC expects a turn to the northwest and north-northwest. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 50 mph (85 kph) and some additional strengthening is forecast during the next two days. There are no watches or warnings in effect for this system.
NHC forecaster Cangliosi noted that "Lowell is expected to remain in an environment of moderate shear, high moisture, and over relatively warm water for another couple of days. These conditions should allow for some additional strengthening."
INFORMATION:
Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA sees Depression 12-E become Tropical Storm Lowell
2014-08-19
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Hand gestures improve learning in both signers and speakers
2014-08-19
Spontaneous gesture can help children learn, whether they use a spoken language or sign language, according to a new report.
Previous research by Susan Goldin-Meadow, the Beardsley Ruml Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Psychology, has found that gesture helps children develop their language, learning and cognitive skills. As one of the nation's leading authorities on language learning and gesture, she has also studied how using gesture helps older children improve their mathematical skills.
Goldin-Meadow's new study examines how gesturing contributes ...
Solar salad, anyone?
2014-08-19
TEMPE, Ariz. – An Arizona State University alumna has devised the largest catalog ever produced for stellar compositions. Called the Hypatia Catalog, after one of the first female astronomers who lived ~350 AD in Alexandria, the work is critical to understanding the properties of stars, how they form, and possible connections with orbiting planets. And what she found from her work is that the compositions of nearby stars aren't as uniform as once thought.
Since it is not possible to physically sample a star to determine its composition, astronomers study of the light ...
Leukemia drug shows promise for skin, breast and other cancers
2014-08-19
MAYWOOD, Ill -- A leukemia drug called dasatinib shows promise for treating skin, breast and several other cancers, according to researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
Dasatinib fights leukemia by checking the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. But when used against other cancer cells, researchers found, the drug employs a different strategy: It causes the cells to clump together, thus preventing them from migrating. Without the ability to migrate, cancer cells cannot metastasize (spread to other parts of the body).
Mitchell Denning, ...
Electroacupuncture attenuates neuropathic pain after brachial plexus injury
2014-08-19
Electroacupuncture has traditionally been used to treat pain, but its effect on pain following brachial plexus injury is still unknown. In a recent study reported on the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 14, 2014), rat models of an avulsion injury to the left brachial plexus root (associated with upper-limb chronic neuropathic pain) were given electroacupuncture stimulation at bilateral Quchi (LI11), Hegu (LI04), Zusanli (ST36) and Yanglingquan (GB34). After electroacupuncture therapy, chronic neuropathic pain in the rats' upper limbs was significantly attenuated. ...
Genetic key to lupus shows potential of personalized medicine
2014-08-19
Medical researchers have used DNA sequencing to identify a gene variant responsible for causing lupus in a young patient.
The development shows that for the first time, it is feasible for researchers to identify the individual causes of lupus in patients by using DNA sequencing, allowing doctors to target specific treatments to individual patients.
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects one in 700 Australians, predominantly young and middle aged women.
Medical researchers at the Australian National University's Centre for Personalised Immunology, based ...
MIPT and RAS scientists made an important step towards creating medical nanorobots
2014-08-19
Researchers from the Institute of General Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and MIPT have made an important step towards creating medical nanorobots. They discovered a way of enabling nano- and microparticles to produce logical calculations using a variety of biochemical reactions.
Details of their research project are given in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. It is the first experimental publication by an exclusively Russian team in one of the most cited scientific magazines in many ...
Opioid users breathe easier with novel drug to treat respiratory depression
2014-08-19
Chicago – August 19, 2014 – People taking prescription opioids to treat moderate to severe pain may be able to breathe a little easier, literally. A study published in the September issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®), found that a new therapeutic drug, GAL-021, may reverse or prevent respiratory depression, or inadequate breathing, in patients taking opioid medication without compromising pain relief or increasing sedation.
"Although opioids such as oxycodone, methadone and fentanyl are commonly ...
Taking a stand: Balancing the BENEFITS and RISKS of physical activity in children
2014-08-19
This news release is available in French. Taking a Stand: balancing the BENEFITS and RISKS of physical activity in children
Today the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology took a stand on the promotion of childhood physical activity and published their position and recommendations in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism (APNM). This position stand provides an important overview of knowledge in the area of risk of physical activity for children and suggests both practical guidelines and a research agenda. Uniquely, this position stand addresses ...
Researchers block plant hormone
2014-08-19
This news release is available in German.
Researchers trying to get new information about the metabolism of plants can switch off individual genes and study the resulting changes. However, Erich Kombrink from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne and Markus Kaiser from the University of Duisburg-Essen adopt a different approach. They identify small molecules that block specific components of the metabolic process like brake pads and prevent the downstream reactions. In their search for these molecules, they use a biological selection ...
Exporting US coal to Asia could drop emissions 21 percent
2014-08-19
DURHAM, N.C. -- Under the right scenario, exporting U.S. coal to power plants in South Korea could lead to a 21 percent drop in greenhouse gas emissions compared to burning the fossil fuel at plants in the United States, according to a new Duke University-led study.
"Despite the large amount of emissions produced by shipping the coal such a long distance, our analysis shows that the total emissions would drop because of the superior energy efficiency of South Korea's newer coal-fired power plants," said Dalia Patiño-Echeverri, assistant professor of energy systems and ...