Hurricane Jimena, a once powerful Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds estimated at 140 mph by the National Hurricane Center, has continued to weaken well east of Hawaii. The Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core satellite analyzed rainfall rates and saw the eyewall was eroding.
The eyewall of a hurricane contains a storm's most damaging winds and intense rainfall. It consists of a vertical wall of powerful thunderstorms circling a hurricane's open eye.
GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA. GPM captured data on Jimena on Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 10:01 UTC (6:01 a.m. PDT). At the time Jimena, which began to recurve to the northwest yesterday, steering it away from the Hawaiian Islands, was located about 750 east of Hilo, Hawaii and was moving slowly towards the northwest at 3 mph with maximum sustained winds estimated at 110 mph by the central Pacific Hurricane Center. GPM shows that Jimena's eyewall continued to erode away on the southern side. Most of the rain bands south of the center have also greatly diminished.
Jimena is forecast to continue to weaken and take a more north-northwest track over the next few days. NOAA's Central Pacific Hurricane Center noted that large swells from Jimena will produce hazardous surf along east facing shores of the main Hawaiian Islands. Surf produced by these swells will build and continue through the weekend of September 5 and 6.
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