Hermine becomes a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico

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NASA/NOAA GOES Project

Tropical Storm Hermine officially reached hurricane status on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, at 1:55 p.m. EDT. NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a visible image of the hurricane at 3:15 p.m. EDT (1915 UTC). The image shows a much more organized Hermine with bands of thunderstorms wrapping around its low-level center and blanketing the entire state of Florida. The image was created at NASA/NOAA's GOES Project office, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

A hurricane warning is in effect from Suwannee River to Mexico Beach, Florida. A hurricane watch is in effect from Anclote River to Suwannee River, and west of Mexico Beach to the Walton/Bay County line.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from Englewood to Suwannee River, from west of Mexico Beach to the Walton/Bay County line, and the Flagler/Volusia County line to Surf City. A tropical storm watch is in effect from north of Surf City to Oregon Inlet, including Pamlico Sound.

At 1:55 p.m. EDT (1755 UTC), the center of Hurricane Hermine was located near 28.1 degrees north latitude and 85.1 degrees west longitude. Hermine is moving toward the north-northeast near 14 mph (22 kph), and this motion with a slight increase in forward speed is expected during the next day or so. On the forecast track, the center of Hermine will be near the Florida coast in the hurricane warning area tonight or early Friday, Sept. 2.

Maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph (120 kph) with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 miles (295 km), mainly to the northeast and southeast of the center.

For updated forecasts, visit NHC's website at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.

Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center