Image: Hurricane Helene 2006

Description: The 2006 Atlantic Hurricane season had a slow start, with very few named storms in the first months of the season. But in early September, the previously hurricane-less season threw out four hurricanes in a row: Ernesto, Florence, Gordon, and Helene. A persistent ridgeline of high pressure over the U.S. east coast steered the last three of these four storms away into the North Atlantic. Hurricanes Gordon and Helene have both reached Category Three status. As of September 19, Helene was not expected to make landfall on any of the Atlantic islands, though it may pass close enough to Bermuda to bring strong storm surges. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on September 19, 2006, at 10:15 a.m. local time (14:15 UTC). Helene is a well-defined large sprawling storm system with long spirals arms, a tightly wound central portion, distinct eyewall, and a cloud-filled eye. These are all telltale signs of a powerful hurricane. According to the University of Hawaii’s Tropical Storm Information Center, Helene had sustained winds reaching as high as 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour), making it a powerful Category Three storm. As of September 19, Helene was predicted to building power slightly more as it continued to travel over warm seas and with no significant landfalls to disrupt the hurricane’s continued strength.
Title: Hurricane Helene 2006
Credit: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13880 (archived) → jpg (archived)
Author: NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.
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