Satellites watch Tropical Storm Isaias batter eastern US

Tropical Storm Isaias battered the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast with torrential rains and powerful winds on Tuesday (Aug. 4) as NASA and NOAA satellites tracked the storm from space.

By midday, Isaias was moving rapidly across eastern Maryland, threatening the region with the potential for tornadoes, heavy rainfall and strong winds, according to an 11 a.m. EDT update (opens in new tab) from the U.S. Hurricane Center.

It's #TimeLapseTuesday again! Here we can see the evolution of #Isaias via #GOESEast as it traveled up from the Atlantic, through the Caribbean Sea, and made landfall as a Category-1 #hurricane late Monday night near Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. More info: https://t.co/zknxJ0JI73 pic.twitter.com/hB8TYwj2sFAugust 4, 2020

Satellite imagery and video showed Isaias, which had oscillated in strength between a hurricane and tropical storm in recent days, as it crept up the U.S. East Coast following its first landfall in Florida over the weekend.

TROPICAL UPDATE: @NOAA's #GOES16🛰️ is warily watching #TropicalStormIsaias as it tracks along the Eastern Seaboard this evening. #Isaias is expected to strengthen to a #hurricane before landfall later tonight. Get the latest updates and warnings here: https://t.co/VTAp4gGkHs pic.twitter.com/A78Y0BFHg7August 3, 2020

#SuomiNPP viewed Tropical Storm #Isaias's development and movement from July 28-29 as it traveled into the Caribbean Sea and formed into a tropical storm. Many watches and warnings are currently in effect in the Caribbean. More info here: https://t.co/v5ccQeYzrK pic.twitter.com/aYfjAnV3OTJuly 30, 2020

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Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award (opens in new tab) for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast (opens in new tab) with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network (opens in new tab). To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik (opens in new tab).