The Incredible Hurricane Linda

 This visible image shows Eastern Pacific Hurricane Linda during rapid intensification at 1945 UTC September 12, 1997. Notice the small eye ("the dreaded pinhole eye") embedded in the central dense overcast (CDO). Several large band are seen surrounding the CDO. At this time, Linda's maximum sustained winds were increasing from 150 to 175 mph, with Linda well on its way to becoming the strongest Eastern Pacific hurricane of record. The small black oblong just east-northeast of the eye is the rather unfortunate Socorro Island, which appears to have been blasted by Linda's eyewall. The Tropical Prediction Center did not receive any meteorological data from the island during Linda's passage. (425K GIF)

 This visible image shows Linda at 1630 UTC September 13, 1997. There are signs of weakening from its peak intensity of 185 mph. Notice the small eye is still present, but it is less well defined. There is a "moat" of lower clouds wrapped three-quarters around the eye between the eyewall and convection further from the center. This appears to be a case of concentric eyewalls, with the inner eyewall weakening as the outer eyewall develops around it. (209K JPG)

The first image is courtesy of the University of Wisconsin's CIMSS Tropical Cyclones page, which contains a good selection of real-time and near-real-time tropical cyclone imagery. The second image is courtesy of the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, CA. Similar real-time images can be found on their Tropical Images and Movies page and on their Tropical Cyclone page. For Eastern Pacific warnings and other hurricane information, check out the Tropical Prediction Center or the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The TPC's detailed report on Linda is now available.

Interesting Image Page #1 - Typhoon Nestor

Interesting Image Page #3 - Soufriere Hills, Montserrat

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