English: This animation shows the storm’s progress and transformation between September 1 and September 3, 2010. The animation shows GOES images of clouds, spaced out at six images per hour, on top of a true-colour composite image from the MODIS sensor (the Blue Marble). In the animation, Earl develops a large, cloud-free eye early on September 2. The eye disappears and the storm starts to fall apart later in the day just before it grazes Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. By the afternoon of September 3, Earl has loosened and its spiralling cloud bands have spread. At the bottom right of the image, a weakening Tropical Storm Fiona can be seen struggling to maintain convection against strong wind shear.