Hurricane Beatriz weakened into a tropical storm

MANZANILLO, Mexico – Hurricane Beatriz weakened into a tropical storm and headed out to sea Tuesday after pounding Mexico's resort-studded Pacific coast with heavy rains and winds

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Mexico's government had discontinued a hurricane warning for a stretch of coastline from La Fortuna to Cabo Corrientes. Beatriz is expected to continue weakening

Beatriz's maximum sustained winds have dropped to near 60 mph (95 kph). It is about 110 miles (175 kilometers) south-southwest Cabo Corrientes and moving west into the Pacific at near 12 mph (19 kph).

No injuries or major damage were reported in Manzanillo, said David Sanchez, Manzanillo's civil protection director. He said authorities saw two palm trees that had been knocked over.

About 150 Mexican soldiers were deployed on a rescue mission in case homes needed to be evacuated in Acapulco

Authorities say 100 homes were flooded, 20 trees fell and some avenues in the tourist district were also flooded because of the heavy rains. About 30 parked vehicles were swept by the current.

Tropical Storm Aere-Western North Pacific Ocean

In a time series of imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument showed Tropical Storm Aere's progress over the weekend on May 6 at 16:59 UTC, May 7 at 05:29 UTC, and Monday, May 9 at 05:17 UTC. Infrared data basically takes the temperature of a tropical cyclone's clouds and the coldest areas indicate the strongest thunderstorms and areas of heaviest rainfall. Those coldest cloud temperatures (highest, strongest thunderstorms) and are as cold as or colder than -63F/-52C.

On May 6, when Aere was a tropical depression (03W) it appeared to be more concentrated with the heaviest rainfall and strongest thunderstorms over open ocean. By Saturday, May 7, those heavy rains overspread land areas. On Monday, May 9, the circulation seemed to become weaker and convection seemed to appear more scattered and has decreased in AIRS imagery.

Warnings are still in effect in the Philippines as Aere continues to move north. Public storm warning signal #1 is in effect in the following provinces: Luzon: Quirino, Ifugao, Mt. Province, Kalinga, Apayao and Batanes. Public storm warning signal #2 is in effect for: Luzon: Cagayan, Babuya and Calayan.

The four fatalities caused by Tropical Storm Aere occurred in Balatan, Camarines Sur where a landslide took three lives, and another person drowned in floodwaters in Leyte. Radio reports also noted that nine people at the Manila airport were injured when lightning struck a plane on the tarmac on May 7.

Tropical Depression 03W-Western North Pacific Ocean

Tropical Depression 03W near the Philippines, according to data from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite. NASA's Aqua satellite confirmed the data through cold cloud-top temperatures and rain continues to fall in the Philippines today where the storm has been given the local name "Bebeng."

System 93W strengthened into Tropical Depression Three early on May 6 and is forecast to move toward Luzon late into the weekend. At 1500 UTC on May 6, the center of TD03W was located east of Visayas about 460 nautical miles east-southeast of Manila, the Philippines near 11.9 North and 138.0 East. It was moving toward the northwest at 3 knots. Maximum sustained winds are near 30 knots.

On May 6, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) had not issued any warnings in the Philippines. The forecast from PAGASA on Friday, May 6 noted that clouds and scattered showers would affect the Bicol Region, Visayas and northern Mindanao, with thunderstorms developing over the Bicol Region and Visayas. Some of the rainfall could be heavy in those areas and may trigger flash flooding and landslides.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, managed by NASA and the Japanese Space Agency flew over Tropical Depression 03W on Friday, May 6 at 0837 UTC. TRMM noticed that the storm's rainfall was still concentrated on the western side of circulation, although the northern and eastern areas of the storm were also showing rainfall. Only a couple of very small areas of heavy rainfall were seen in the TRMM image around the northeastern fringes of circulation. In those small, isolated areas rain was falling at about 2 inches per hour. Rainfall around the rest of the storm was moderate, falling at rates between 20 and 40 millimeters per hour.

System 93W-Western North Pacific Ocean updates

An infrared image taken from the AIRS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite on May 4 at 17:11 UTC showed large areas of strong convection on System 93W's west and southern edges, where thunderstorms have very cold cloud-top temperatures (-63F/-52C). That strong convection remained on the low's western side on May 5.

On May 5, System 93W's circulation center appears to be near 11.1 North and 128.3 East, about 475 nautical miles east-southeast of Manila, the Philippines. The surface winds are still estimated between 15 and 20 knots. System 93W is still in warm waters that will assist in its strengthening as it continues moving to the northwest near 8 knots.

The eastern Philippines are already experiencing some light rains from System 93W. At 12 p.m. EDT on May 5, the city of Legazpi, Philippines reported light rain with a temperature of 25C/ 77F. The minimum central pressure was 29.80 inches and falling and winds were blowing from the northeast at 5 mph. Thunderstorms are in the forecast for Friday, May 6 and Saturday May 7, as System 93W moves closer.

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System 95B-Northern Indian Ocean

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite passed over System 95B from its orbit in space and captured an infrared image of the low pressure area on April 29 at 07:53 UTC. Infrared imagery acts like taking the temperature of the system's clouds - and there were some high, very cold clouds that indicated powerful convection and strong thunderstorms in the center. Some cloud top temperatures were as cold as or colder than -63F/-52C. Infrared imagery indicated that there was scattered convection around all sides of the low-level center, and even some curved banding of thunderstorms.

On April 29, System 95B was located about 420 nautical miles east-northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka near 9.5 North and 96.5 East. System 95B is drifting and currently has estimated sustained surface winds between 15 and 20 knots. Despite the waters in the Bay of Bengal being warm enough to sustain the development of a tropical cyclone, there is a westerly wind field present.

Tropical Low #1 -Atlantic

Hurricane season doesn't start in the Northern Atlantic Ocean until June 1, but a low pressure system in doesn't seem to want to follow the calendar. There's a low pressure area with a small chance for development north-northeast of Puerto Rico, and the GOES-13 satellite captured a visible image of the storm.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a Special Tropical Weather Outlook today, April 20, that noted the low pressure area was located about 460 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico at 3:35 p.m. EDT. The NHC noted that slow development is possible over next couple of days. The low is moving west -northwest at 10mph.

The image was created using satellite imagery was captured on April 20 at 17:45 UTC (1:45 p.m. EDT) from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-13). Although it is not easy to pick out the center of circulation in the image, it is located to the west of the largest area of clouds.

Tropical Storm Errol

NASA's Aqua Satellite Sees Weaker Tropical Depression Errol Crossing West Timor

NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Depression Errol's warming cloud temperatures as it was crossing the southern tip of West Timor today. West Timor is the western and Indonesian portion of the island of Timor. To the east lies the Timor Sea, to the west is the Southern Indian Ocean.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image on April 18 at 04:53 UTC (12:53 a.m. EDT) that showed very little strong convection (rapidly rising air that forms thunderstorms) remained in Errol. The strongest areas of convection had cloud-top temperatures as cold as -63F/-52C. However, AIRS data shows that much of the cloud top temperatures in the depression have since warmed. Cloud-top temperatures are important because they tell forecasters how high thunderstorms are, and the higher the thunderstorm, the colder the cloud tops and the more powerful the thunderstorms. Warming cloud top temperatures mean lower cloud heights and indicate that the storm is growing weaker. It means that there's not as much power to lift the air up to create the thunderstorms that power it.

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Tropical Storm 97W - Northwest Pacific Ocean

Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite has seen potential in a developing tropical low pressure system near Brunei. Brunei is located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak, Malaysia.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of the tropical low pressure area called "System 97W" on April 6 at 0611 UTC (2:11 a.m. EDT). Infrared data basically takes the temperature of atmospheric, land or oceanic objects. The infrared data revealed the coldest temperatures were in thunderstorm cloud tops around the center of System 97W's circulation. Those cloud tops were as cold as or colder than -63 degrees Fahrenheit (-52 Celsius) indicating strong convection (rapidly rising air that forms the thunderstorms that power a tropical cyclone). That's an indication that the storm is getting stronger. There is also a banding of thunderstorms around the low-level center of circulation.

AIRS data also showed that the sea surface temperatures were above 80F (26.7 C), which is the threshold for maintaining a tropical cyclone, so the water remains a power source for intensification. At 0600 UTC on April 6, 2011, System 97W was about 170 miles west-northwest of Brunei near 6.2 North and 112.4 East. Maximum sustained surface winds are estimated at 15 to 20 knots. Minimum sea level pressure is estimated to be near 1008 millibars.