Several interesting atmospheric features appear in this GOES East satellite image of the western Atlantic Ocean, captured July 9, 2018. The small eye of Tropical Storm Chris is visible off the coast of the Carolinas, while in the eastern Caribbean Sea, we can see the remnants of former Hurricane Beryl, around which a thick plume of Saharan dust is wrapping north and east of the storm. Chris, which formed on July 8, is the third named storm of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. In its latest update, the National Hurricane Center reported the storm had sustained winds near 60 mph and remains stalled a few hundred miles off the coast of North Carolina. The storm is expected to strengthen to a hurricane before weakening again as it tracks northeastward toward Newfoundland later this week.

Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, the disorganized remants of Beryl can be seen east of the island of Hispaniola. The storm is currently bringing heavy rain to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and has a 40 percent chance of re-strengthening to a tropical storm or depression over the next five days. North and east of the storm, a hazy cloud of Saharan dust is visible in the lower-right portion of this image. Known as the Saharan Air Layer, this dry, dusty air mass has been a persistent feature over the tropical Atlantic Ocean in recent weeks.

This geocolor enhanced imagery was created by NOAA's partners at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. The GOES East geostationary satellite, also known as GOES-16, provides coverage of the Western Hemisphere, including the United States, the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The satellite's high-resolution imagery provides optimal viewing of severe weather, such as hurricanes and tropical storms, as well as atmospheric aerosols such as dust and sand.