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November 14, 2008 - Hurricane Paloma
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| Date
Acquired: |
11/09/2008 |
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| Credit: |
Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory |
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On November 8, 2008, Hurricane Paloma ballooned into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 230 kilometers per hour (145 miles per hour) with even stronger gusts. According to the National Hurricane Center, Paloma came ashore over Santa Cruz del Sur, Cuba, shortly after 6:00 p.m. EST on November 8. While the storm had weakened into a Category 3 storm, it still slammed the island nation with winds near 200 km/hr (125 mph). The storm destroyed homes and other buildings and caused floods, but according to the Associated Press, the government reported no deaths. Cuba was still recovering from being hit by two powerful hurricanes, Gustav and Ike, earlier in the summer.
This image was captured by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite the next day, on November 9. By this date, Paloma had weakened considerably over Cuba, degrading from a tropical storm to a tropical depression. Only the faintest hint of a powerful storm remains in the loosely swirling clouds over Cuba. According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm dissipated on November 10.
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