While Atlantic cyclones begin in the desert, this particular system looked to be a disorganized and milder storm according to predictions. Winds were fairly mild at about 35 miles per hour when residents of the Louisiana-Texas border area went to bed. on September 12, 2007. But amazingly, the stormy winds later reach 85+ miles per hour just 6 hours later. People awoke in the morning to find the area had been hit by a true hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
The picture above represents the images from the TRMM satellite of Humberto late in the evening on September 12th. The storm lacked true organization. Although the rain bands showed some rotation, residents were not given warnings for a hurricane. Flash flood warnings and severe weather warnings were announced, but few expected the development that was about to occur. Go to the next image of Humberto just 6 hours later.