The rain bands of Hurricane Jova were already beginning to lash the coast of Mexico on October 10, 2011 as the Category Three Hurricane turned towards the northeast and approached landfall. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite captured this true-color image at 17:40 UTC (10:40 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time) on that same day.
Shortly after this image was captured, at 11:00 am PDT, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that the maximum sustained winds remained near 125 miles per hour (205 kilometers per hour) with higher gusts, and predicted that additional strengthening could occur over the next 24 hours as the storm approached land.
Fortunately, Jova maintained a strong Category Three status throughout the day, and then began to weaken as it neared land the next day. At 5:00 p.m. on October 11, the NCH reported that maximum sustained winds blew at 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour) as the eye neared the coast of Mexico. At that time, the eye was about 70 miles (110 km) west south-west of Manzanillo and was approaching land at about 6 miles per hour (9 kilometers per hour).
The NHC warned that hurricane conditions would reach the coast in the late evening of October 11, and spread northward as the storm crosses land. A dangerous storm surge was expected to produce significant coastal flooding, and the surge could be accompanied by large and destructive waves. The storm was predicted to produce torrential rain – averaging 6-12 inches in most of the affected area, with possible amounts as high as 20 inches – accompanied by the risk of life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.
Date Acquired: 10/10/2011
Resolutions: 1km (786.4 KB), 500m (2.6 MB), 250m (6.1 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC