| 
| 
|
|
Although only a category 1 hurricane, Juan ranks as the 8th costliest hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland. Juan's looping track made initial landfall on October 29 over south-central Louisiana. Rainfall totals from 5-10 inches caused flooding across coastal Texas, Louisiana and other regions of the southeastern U.S. Total damage was estimated at $1.5 billion dollars. The death toll due to Juan was 63.
The after image depicts a dramatic increase in the turbidity in the vicinity of the Mississippi River. Since the after image is six days following Juan's initial landfall higher turbidity due to increased outflow from the river and its tributaries would appear to be plausible. Notice that the southern half of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana is much more turbid than the northern half. A large signal is also present in Mobile Bay, Alabama. The difference image exhibits similar changes. Contrast Juan's after image with the after image for hurricane Danny in 1997 that followed a similar path.
|
|
|
|
Interpretations using these SST images are difficult to make since there is a large temporal span between them (approximately three weeks) during which the region probably cooled primarily due to decreased solar insolation and reduced land temperatures. It is very likely that the difference image exaggerates the true change in SST. Unfortunately, a cloud free image closer to the date of hurricane landfall was not available for a more valid comparison.
| 
| 
|