21 Sep 2016

NASA Sees Tropical Storm Lisa Form in Eastern Atlantic

Tropical Depression 12 strengthened on Sept. 20 and became Tropical Storm Lisa. NOAA's GOES-East satellite provided a visible look at the storm far in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
At 10:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 20 NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a visible picture of the newly christened tropical storm. A wide band of thunderstorms were feeding into Lisa's center from the east and southeastern quadrants. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that the cloud pattern of the cyclone has steadily improved during the morning hours with long curved bands having developed in the northern semicircle.

NOAA manages the GOES series of satellites, and the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland uses the data to create images and animations.
At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) Tropical Depression 12 strengthened into a tropical storm. At that time the center of Tropical Storm Lisa was located near 15.3 degrees north latitude and 30.4 degrees west longitude. That's about 430 miles (690 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 40 mph (65 kph) with higher gusts. Some additional strengthening is forecast over the next two days.

Lisa is moving toward the northwest near 12 mph (19 kph) and the NHC said this general motion is expected to continue through Thursday, Sept. 22.

Image: At 10:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 20 NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a visible picture of the newly christened tropical storm. A wide band of thunderstorms were feeding into Lisa's center from the east and southeastern quadrants.