August 27, 2016 - Tropical Storm Lester (13E) off Mexico

Tropical Storm Lester (13E) off Mexico

On August 24, 2016, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued its first advisory on Tropical Depression 13E which had formed about 260 mi (415 km) south-southeast of Socorro Island, Mexico. Within 24 hours the depression had strengthened as it moved away from Mexico, and the NHC dubbed the storm Tropical Storm Lester.

While continuing its generally westward movement, Lester strengthened and developed an eye late on August 26. The NCH issued an advisory at 21:00 UTC (5:00 p.m. EDT) stating that maximum sustained winds have increased to near 75 mph (120 km/h) with higher gusts, and that Lester had now become a hurricane, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 23 mi (35 km) from the center. Tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 90 mi (150 km) from the center.

At the time of that advisory, Hurricane Lester was located near latitude 17.9 N, longitude 116.5 W and was moving towards the west near 9 mph (15 km/h). The motion is expected to continue this direction for the next few days, and some additional strengthening of the storm is forecast during the next 48 hours. Hurricane Lester appears to be no immediate threat to land.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured this true-color image of Tropical Storm Lester on August 25, 2016, at 1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. ECT). At that time theh storm was consolidating and had only recently reached tropical storm status. The center of Lester appears large and ill-defined, although circulation around the center is evident.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 8/25/2016
Resolutions: 1km (820.8 KB), 500m (2.8 MB), 250m (6.7 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC