Tropical Storm Debby lumbered slowly over the southeastern United States in late June 2012, dropping heavy rain over parts of Florida and Georgia, news sources said. On June 26, 2012, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned of the hazards that Debby could still bring to the region, including a storm surge, heavy rains, and tornadoes.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image around 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on June 25. Storm clouds stretched from the Gulf of Mexico across Florida and southern Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean.
Around the time MODIS acquired this image, the NHC reported that Debby was located roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) south-southwest of Apalachicola, Florida. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 miles (75 kilometers) per hour with higher gusts.
Among the worst effects of the slow-moving storm was heavy rainfall. Reuters reported nearly 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rainfall in some areas, and MSNBC reported even high amounts. MSNBC reported that hundreds of thousands of residents had been affected, some suffering property damage from tornadoes, and some having lost electricity. As of June 26, the NHC reported, Debby was moving eastward at just 3 miles (6 kilometers) per hour.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.
