From the vantage of NASA's Aqua satellite, tropical storm Karina -- which is currently weakening as it moves across the Eastern Pacific Ocean -- appears like the number nine.
Hurricanes and tropical storms mostly resemble giant zeros, but yesterday, Karina ran into a band of thunderstorms that approached from the southeast and wrapped up and around the tropical storms northeast quadrant -- forming the band to Karina's zero and thus forming a number nine.
For a variety of reasons, Karina is continuing to weaken as it circles across the Pacific. "The National Hurricane Center noted that Karina is now being affected by moderate-to-strong vertical wind shear," NASA reported in a press release. "Wind shear acts like a battering ram in the atmosphere and can tear a storm apart."
NASA also reports that dry air continues to suck moisture from Karina, weakening it further. The storm will likely begin to disintegrate over the weekend -- its energy sapped as it moves north into colder waters. It's movement north (and subsequent weakening) is expected to hasten in the next couple days as it converges with the more powerful Tropical Storm Lowell, which lies 1,000 miles to the east. As the the two storms move closer, Lowell's energy will push Karina further north.