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Hurricane Katrina--Water Vapor Band
The peak winds of over 100 miles per hour that buffeted New Orleans, La., during Hurricane Katrina could have been much worse had the storm made landfall at a different moment in the cycle of its eyewall. Long-lived, intense hurricanes often go through an eyewall replacement cycle that takes a day or so to complete. The result is collapse of the main eyewall and temporary weakening of the storm. This water vapor band image shows Katrina's weakened eyewall being further disrupted by interaction with the land surface at 5:45 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005. Jeff Weber, a University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) scientist, generated the image using GEMPAK software and data from the water vapor and infrared bands of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) GOES-E (Geostationary Operational Environmental) satellite. (Further information about NOAA's GOES-E satellite is available Here.)
UCAR serves as a hub for research, education and public outreach for the atmospheric and Earth system science community. It manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the UCAR Office of Programs on behalf of the National Science Foundation and the university community. NCAR is headquartered in Boulder, Colo. For more information on UCAR and NCAR, visit the UCAR website. (Date of Image: Unknown)
Credit: Image generated by Jeff Weber; ©University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
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