Hurricane Jimena Guide Note

Hurricane Jimena Guide Note

Hurricane Jimena formed in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Acapulco, Mexico on Saturday, August 29, 2009. The U.S. National Hurricane Center upgraded the hurricane category four by Sunday, August 30, 2009, as the storm was edging closer to Mexico and Baja California.1


At 2:00 p.m. PST on August 31, 2009, Hurricane Jimena had reached wind speeds of 155 mph as it moved northwest at 10mph. The storm was nearing category five classification as it was set to impact Mexico on Tuesday, September 1, 2009.2
Fast Facts

• Hurricane Jimena was the 10th named hurricane of the 2009 hurricane season
• Formed off of the southern Pacific of Mexico on August 29, 2009
• Was a category one hurricane on Saturday, August 29, 2009
• On August 29, 2009, Hurricane Jimena was increasing in strength 3
• Upgraded to a category four storm on August 30, 2009 1
• Nearing category five classification on August 31, 2009 2
• Set to hit Mexico on September 1, 2009 2

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OVERVIEW HURRICAN JIMENA

Overview Hurricane Jimena:

Hurricane Jimena developed on August 28 about 1700 miles east-southeast of Hawaii and developed quickly. On August 30, it reached it's peak strength as a hurricane with sustained winds slightly over 100 mph. Hurricane Jimena moved steadily westward around 17 mph on a course that would take the center about 50 miles south of the Big Island. On August 31, with Jimena about 300 miles east-southeast of the Big Island, the storm began to encounter stronger winds in the upper atmosphere that began to weaken and shear it apart. During the early morning hours of September 1, a rapidly weakening Jimena started moving in a southwest direction as it was now being pushed along by the low level tradewind flow from the northeast. Air Force Reserve aircraft reconnaissance could not find any winds above hurricane strength, and so Jimena was downgraded to a Tropical Storm. Hurricane Jimena made it's closest approach to the Big Island around sunrise, with it located about 110 miles south of South Point. By that afternoon, much of the convection was gone and Hurricane Jimena was now just a tropical depression as it continued to move southwest and away from the islands.
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HURRICANE JIMENA

HURRICANE JIMENA

Just before the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image at 11:35 a.m., Pacific Daylight Time, on September 1, 2009. The powerful storm has well-defined bands of clouds that circle a distinctive eye in this photo-like image. The outer bands of the storm were already over the southern tip of Baja California. The National Hurricane Center expected Jimena to move north along the peninsula before coming ashore on September 2 or September 3.

At the time this image was taken, Jimena had winds of 215 kilometers per hour (135 miles per hour) with stronger gusts, said the National Hurricane Center. The storm was expected to bring heavy rain—up to 15 inches in some locations, a dangerous storm surge, and battering waves to Baja California.

The high resolution image provided above is at MODIS’ maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides the image in additional resolutions. The image has been rotated 17 degrees to the east.