NASA spotted hot towers in Ileana that indicated its increase to hurricane status
Thursday, August 30, 2012 - 17:00
in Astronomy & Space
Hot Towers are towering clouds that emit a tremendous amount of latent heat (thus, called "hot"). NASA research indicates that whenever a hot tower is spotted, a tropical cyclone will likely intensify. Less than 14 hours after the TRMM satellite captured an image of Ileana's rainfall and cloud heights, Ileana strengthened into a hurricane on Aug. 29.