That's the coast of Southern Brazil on the left. And if you're not used to Southern Hemisphere storms, yes, it's spinning the "wrong" way; low pressure spins clockwise south of the Equator.
SSD (a division of NOAA) has assigned it a Dvorak rating (a way to estimate strength from satellite pics alone) of 4.0, which is a hurricane.
For all the nonsense about weird weather you see pretty much every year, this actually IS weird. There has never been an official tropical system of any kind recorded in the Atlantic south of the Equator (though there was one short-lived system off Africa in the 70s many believe was a Tropical Storm.)
There actually is no agency officially assigned to monitor and track the South Atlantic; NHC does not, Joint Typhoon Warning Center doesn't, and no foreign agencies.
However SSD has put their satellite "floater" on it (you can also find loops of the pic above at the SSD site.)
However, we've only had decent weather satellites since 1965, and 40 years or so isn't a very long record; prior to weather satellites, South Atlantic tropical systems may have occured that weren't recognized for what they were.
The reason there (generally) are no tropical systems there is massive atmospheric shear that blows storms apart.
1 posted on
03/26/2004 6:55:49 AM PST by
John H K
To: John H K
Somebody call Mike Seidel and Joe Cantore!
Seriously, this is fascinating.
bump for later.
To: John H K
HAARP?
3 posted on
03/26/2004 7:00:44 AM PST by
Calpernia
(http://members.cox.net/classicweb/Heroes/heroes.htm)
To: John H K
Wow, "ain't she a beaut." ;-)
4 posted on
03/26/2004 7:03:49 AM PST by
Pyro7480
(Minister for the Conversion of Hardened Sinners,Tomas de Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
To: John H K
5 posted on
03/26/2004 7:05:41 AM PST by
AntiGuv
(When the countdown hits zero, something's gonna happen..)
To: John H K
It's Bush's fault!
7 posted on
03/26/2004 7:16:33 AM PST by
Arrowhead1952
(Most democRATs live in a world of fiction and fantasy!)
To: John H K
This is George Bush's fault.
8 posted on
03/26/2004 7:27:15 AM PST by
Blood of Tyrants
(Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn't be, in its eyes, a slave.)
To: John H K
Who knew?
This is the kind of interesting tidbit I'll bring up in conversation at some point and everyone will look at me funny.
I love that. Thanks FR.
10 posted on
03/26/2004 7:43:16 AM PST by
dmz
To: John H K
Could it be El Nino?
To: John H K
Bizarre. How long till Drudge calls it a...
HELLSTORM!!!19 posted on
03/26/2004 9:33:41 AM PST by
Constitution Day
(Over 140,000 FReepers, and just about all of us will be going pro in something other than politics.)
To: John H K
To: John H K
Interesting.....
23 posted on
03/26/2004 10:01:39 AM PST by
shield
(Scientific Discoveries of the century reveal GOD!!!!)
To: John H K
Here's Hurricane Hugo, for comparison. It does indeed rotate the other way.
24 posted on
03/26/2004 10:05:45 AM PST by
ArrogantBustard
(Chief Engineer, Tomas de Torquemada Gentlemens' Club)
To: John H K
27 posted on
03/27/2004 8:24:43 PM PST by
shield
(The Greatest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God!!!! by Dr. H. Ross, Astrophysicist)
To: John H K
28 posted on
09/14/2004 8:49:27 AM PDT by
Truth666
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