20150512 - Ana and Noul

Ana and Noul: A Tale of Two Cyclones

By Tom Yulsman | May 9, 2015 4:33 pm

Astronaut Scott Kelly shot this photo of Tropical Storm Ana from the International Space Station on Thursday, May 8, 2015.


Tropical Storm Ana is headed for landfall in the Carolinas early on Sunday morning. You can see the cyclone swirling near the coast in the image above shot from the International Space Station.
Ana is a preemie: She has arrived three weeks before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane system. And as a preemie, Ana is not terribly strong: As I’m writing this at about 5:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, maximum sustained winds are pegged at 60 miles per hour.
The storm is now moving off the sustaining warmth of the Gulf Stream and is beginning to encounter cooler waters. That combined with wind shear and dry air is forecast to cause gradual weakening until the storm makes landfall.
In all likelihood, sustained winds will fall to around 50 miles per hour, rainfall will be limited to no more than three inches, and storm surge shouldn’t exceed two feet. So “the main danger of the storm may be rip currents that can drown unwary swimmers,” says Bob Henson of Wunderground.com.


 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2015/05/09/ana-and-noul-a-tale-of-two-cyclones/#.VVH1AvCvbER