Hurricane Igor as viewed from the International Space Station on Sept. 17. Photo Credit/NASA ISS
The Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico came alive this week with multiple hurricanes, with two of the tropical cyclones reaching Category 4 force at one point — a rare occurrence.
Cameras aboard the International Space Station captured close up images of Igor, Julia and Karl.
“We looked right down into the eye,” NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock told one interviewer this week of his experience observing Igor from the cupola observation deck of the station. “We could see the water of the Atlantic Ocean right down through the eye, and it was spectacular. It really takes your breath away….no words to describe it.”
Early Friday, Sept. 17, Igor had lost its Category 4 status. As a Category 3 storm, Igor was swirling toward an encounter with Bermuda on Sunday.
Hurricane Julia as observed from the space station on Sept. 14 Photo Credit/NASA ISS
Julia, which ballooned from a Category 2 to a Category 4 storm this week, has weakened as well. A Category 1 storm on Friday, Julia was moving northwest in the Atlantic, continuing to weaken and not expected to make landfall.
Hurricane Karl, churning in the Gulf of Mexico, was expected to make landfall today in southern Mexico, near Veracruz, as a Category 3 storm
For more on NASA and the research it conducts on the formation of tropical storms click here.
Hurricane Karl as observed from the ISS on Sept. 14 Photo Credit/NASA ISS