NASA's Aqua satellite acquired this image of the storm at 2:40 p.m. local time. The red line depicts the tornado's track. Credit: NASA\/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE\/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA Goddard. <\/p>\n
GREENBELT, Md., May 21 (UPI) -- NASA released a satellite photo that shows the system that generated severe weather and a tornado Monday afternoon that devastated Moore, Okla. <\/p>\n
Satellites operated by NASA and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration photographed the storm system over the south-central United States, the space agency said Tuesday. <\/p>\n
The tornado that struck Moore, spawned by the supercell thunderstorms in the satellite images, was an F-4 tornado on the enhanced Fujita scale, the National Weather Service determined, with winds between 166 and 200 mph. <\/p>\n
Satellites provided imagery and data to forecasters before, during and after the tornado, NASA said, allowing them to issue a first warning almost an hour before the tornado touched down in Moore, where it caused dozens of deaths and widespread destruction. <\/p>\n
This tornado was about twice as wide as the one that struck Moore on May 3, 1999. <\/p>\n
Moore is 10 miles south of Oklahoma City. <\/p>\n
NOAA's GOES-13 satellite provided forecasters with images of the storm system every 15 minutes, NASA said. <\/p>\n
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NASA releases satellite images of storm that spawned Oklahoma tornado<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA's Aqua satellite acquired this image of the storm at 2:40 p.m. local time. The red line depicts the tornado's track. Continue reading