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Satellites: NOAA-15
and NOAA-17,
part of NOAA's 850km-high (530 mile-high) Polar
Orbiting satellites
A Monster!
Hurricane Katrina powered up when she crossed southern Florida
and hit the very warm (~90 degrees Fahrenheit) waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Hurricanes draw their power from heat energy released from the warm waters lying
below them.
Click on the image(s) below for a higher-resolution (~100k) picture.
**For a very high resolution (nearly 300k) picture of Katrina's eye
on Sunday. Aug. 28, click here.
Note how you can see all the way down to the relatively-calm ocean within the
eye.
However, since the Sunday image was taken in the morning, the ocean surface in
the eye is still in the morning shade.
This high-resolution image clearly shows the location of New Orleans where it
lies between Lake Pontchartrain and the meandering Mississippi River.
| Sunday, August 28: Katrina powers up and develops a well-defined eyewall after crossing into the Gulf of Mexico. This image was taken in the morning, thus the eye of Katrina appears relatively dark. | Monday, August 29: Katrina hits land around New Orleans, dumping water and driving waves over the levees into a city that lies below sea level for the most part. |
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In this image, Lake Pontchartrain is clearly visible near the mouth of the Mississippi River. New Orleans lies just to the south of this lake.
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