NASA imagery from June 17 shows Tropical Storm Arthur just after it was designated a tropical storm—while strong winds stretched 175 miles from its center and heavy rain threatened flash flooding along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
On the Gulf Coast, the air didn’t just feel unsettled—it moved. By the morning of June 17, Tropical Storm Arthur had already set weather in motion, and a NASA satellite captured what the storm looked like from above moments after it was officially recognized.
NASA’s Terra satellite took a natural-color image at 10:30 a.m. Central Time (15:30 Universal Time) on June 17. In the same event, a second view recorded infrared signals—brightness temperature—to show how the storm’s cloud tops compared with the warmer surface below.
At around the time those images were acquired, the system had just recently been designated a tropical storm by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Arthur stayed below hurricane strength, but that didn’t soften the impact on the ground.
The NHC reported that around the image time, Arthur’s maximum sustained winds were 40 miles (65 kilometers) per hour. Even without hurricane-level intensity, tropical-storm-force winds reached far—extending 175 miles (280 kilometers) from the storm’s center as it tracked northeast.
That reach showed up in measurements. At Galveston, Texas, a gust hit 48 miles per hour.
Rain was the other story. and it carried a warning sharp enough to be repeated: the National Weather Service warned that flash flooding could be life-threatening. Estimates from IMERG (the Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for GPM). a product of the GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) mission. showed high rainfall rates over Gulf waters and extending inland on June 17.
Arthur then began to weaken and lose organization, but the moisture it dragged along still mattered. On June 18, the storm continued bringing abundant moisture to central Gulf Coast states. In southeastern Louisiana, the National Weather Service reported rainfall rates of 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) per hour.
Forecasters said storm-total rainfall could exceed 12 inches (30 centimeters) in areas, with some locations approaching 20 inches (51 centimeters).
The satellite images underscore a simple reality: storms don’t have to become hurricanes to cause real damage. Arthur remained below hurricane strength, but winds spread across hundreds of miles, and the rain threat lingered as it moved through.
NASA Earth Observatory images were produced by Michala Garrison using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. The story was by Kathryn Hansen.
Tropical Storm Arthur NASA Terra IMERG GPM MODIS NHC Galveston gust 48 mph flash flooding Gulf Coast
So it wasn’t a hurricane and still did damage… classic. Everybody chill though right? 175 miles is wild.
I don’t get why they’re using satellite pics like that changes anything. Flash flooding is always the real danger and people never listen. 48 mph gusts sounds like “not that bad” until you’re dealing with streets turning into rivers.
Wait, 175 miles from the center means it basically soaked like the whole state?? My cousin in Houston said it was already bad at night and that sounds like what they’re saying but also not sure. NASA infrared temp?? So is that like tracking heat from the storm or like… the ground?
The way they worded it makes it sound like the storm was “designated” and then it magically moved itself. Like the NHC said tropical storm and the clouds got their feelings hurt and stretched out lol. Either way, 12 inches or 20 inches? That’s enough to ruin everything, doesn’t matter what label it had.