NASA catches Tropical Depression Pilar hugging and soaking Mexico's coast

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or

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MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible picture of Tropical Storm Pilar on Sept. 24 at 1:40 p.m. EDT (1740 UTC). At the time Pilar's center was just off the coast of southwestern Mexico and the storm's clouds and showers extended over the Mexican states of Jalisco, western Zacatecas, southern Sinaloa and southern Durango.

An infrared image of Pilar was taken from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on Sept. 25 at 4:53 a.m. EDT (0853 UTC). AIRS measured cloud top temperatures with infrared light. The data showed some strong thunderstorms as cold as or colder than minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 Celsius) along the coast. NASA research has shown that storms with cloud tops that cold have the ability to produce heavy rainfall.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that although Pilar weakened to a depression (after Aqua passed overhead), those strong storms are expected to bring locally heavy rainfall and flooding in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Sinaloa, and Durango.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-nasa-tropical-depression-pilar-mexico.html#jCp