Hurricane Isabel Genesis

  • Credit

    NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Hurricane Isabel Genesis

This animation follows Hurricane Isabel (2003) from its birthplace in the Ethiopian Highlands of East Africa, across the Atlantic Ocean, to the United States. Atlantic hurricanes are often formed as winds over the Gulf of Aden intersect with the Ethiopian Highlands. This animation zooms into the Ethiopian Highlands and shows several storms being formed. Then, the animation dissolves in a reticle to focus in specifically on the formation of Hurricane Isabel. The reticle follows the storm across Africa and into the Atlantic. The path and intensity of Hurricane Isabel is depicted by a colored path. Blue represents the genesis of the storm. Green is a Tropical Depression where winds are less than 39 miles per hour. Yellow is a Tropical Storm where winds are between 39 and 73 miles per hour. Red is a category 1 hurricane where winds are between 74 and 95 miles per hour. Light Red is a category 2 hurricane with winds between 96 and 110 miles per hour. Magenta is a category 3 hurricane with winds between 111 and 130 miles per hour. Light magenta is a category 4 hurricane with winds between 131 and 154 miles per hour. White represents a category 5 hurricane where winds are greater than 155 miles per hour. Note how Isabel gains size and speed over the warm waters of the Atlantic.

Hurricane Isabel is classified as a Tropical Storm on September 6, 2003.

Metadata

  • Sensor

    TRMM/3B4XRT, Space Shuttle/SRTM

  • Animation ID

    2987

  • Video ID

    None

  • Start Timecode

    00:00:00:00

  • End Timecode

    00:00:00:00

  • Animator

    Lori Perkins, Greg Shirah, Alex Kekesi

  • Studio

    SVS

  • Visualization Date

    2004/07/31

  • Scientist

    Jeff Halverson (NASA/GSFC)

  • Datasets

    National Hurricane Center Tracking Information (HURDAT) data, Infrared Global Geostationary Composite

  • Keywords

    Hurricane, Isabel, GCMD--Location--Africa, GCMD--Location--Ethiopia, Gulf of Aden, GCMD--Location--Red Sea, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia

  • DLESE Subject

    Natural hazards, Atmospheric science

  • Data Date

    Infrared Global Geostationary Composite 2003/08/20 - 2003/09/19, TRMM/3B42RT 2003/08/27 - 2003/09/19

  • Animation Type

    Regular

  • Airchecks

    http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0915isabel/media.html, Discovery Channel August 5/6, 2004