September 21, 2019 - Tropical Storm Jerry off Leeward Islands

Tropical Storm Jerry off Leeward Islands

Tropical Depression Ten formed in the formed over the Central Tropical Atlantic Ocean on September 17, 2019 and by the next day had strengthened to become Tropical Storm Jerry. The tenth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane seasons, Jerry reached hurricane strength on the morning of September 19 as it spun over open water about 490 mi (785 km) east of the Leeward Islands. At the end of the day, Hurricane Jerry sported maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 km/h).

At 1500 UTC (11:00 am EDT) on September 20, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Hurricane Jerry was located about 130 mi (205 km) northeast of Barbuda and 190 mi (300 km) east-northeast of Anguilla and was moving west-northwest at 17 mph (28 km/h). Maximum sustained winds had decreased to 85 mph (140 km/h). The forecast predicts that Jerry will be interacting with a weakening subtropical ridge and a mid-latitude trough, which should gradually steer the hurricane northward and northeastward. Although Jerry’s core is expected to move north of the northern Leeward Islands, the storm is expected to bring heavy rainfall and flash floods there through September 20.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of Hurricane Jerry spinning on the open ocean off of the Leeward Islands. The cloud-covered center of the storm remains ragged as the circulation begins to take on the apostrophe-shape of a strengthening system.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 9/19/2019
Resolutions: 1km (1.1 MB), 500m (3.2 MB), 250m (6 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC