Tropical Storm Bertha swept past Bermuda on July 14, 2008. The storm system had fallen from hurricane strength, but it still packed winds of 100 kilometers per hour (55 miles per hour) around the storm center. The island of Bermuda is no stranger to severe storms, and had battened down in preparation. There were widespread power outages, but no serious damage or injuries were reported, according to the Associated Press on July 15. Rip tides and surf were unusually strong not only in Bermuda, but along much of the east coast of the United States, due to the winds and waves from the storm system.
This natural-color satellite image, obtained by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite shows Tropical Storm Bertha as it appeared at 12:05 p.m. local time (15:05 UTC) on July 14, 2008. The storm system shows the hallmark spiral shape of a tropical storm system and remnants of a central eye, but its appearance was more ragged than a well-formed hurricane. As of July 15, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center were anticipating that the storm system would move away from Bermuda and rebuild in strength slightly to reach Category 1 hurricane status once again.
You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of the storm suitable for use with Google Earth.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Jesse Allen.
