“Eerie Footage from International Space Station Captures Hurricane Milton Intensifying into Category 5 Storm”
Eerie new footage from the International Space Station (ISS) has captured Hurricane Milton explosively intensifying into a Category 5 storm as it heads towards Florida. The video, taken by the ISS’s external cameras, shows the storm’s pinhole eye and powerful 180 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Meteorologist Noah Bergren from Fox 35 Orlando described the storm as “nothing short of astronomical” and noted that it is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere can produce over the ocean water.
Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 5 storm in just a few hours on Monday, becoming the fifth most intense Atlantic storm in recorded history. It has since weakened to a Category 4 storm and is expected to make landfall at Tampa Bay on Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
Images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) show the hurricane spinning above the Yucatan Peninsula. The cold temperatures in the images indicate deep convection and intense thunderstorms.
Additional footage from the GOES-19 satellite, shared by Colorado State University’s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), shows Hurricane Milton’s powerful eye and flashes of lightning in the eye wall. The storm has prompted evacuation orders across Florida, which is still recovering from Hurricane Helene’s recent landfall.
The record-shattering high sea surface temperatures since March 2023 have contributed to the incredibly active hurricane seasons and the rapid intensification of storms like Milton. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch described Hurricane Milton as the most impactful storm the city has faced, exacerbating the impacts of Hurricane Helene.
As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida, residents and authorities are preparing for potentially devastating impacts, highlighting the need for continued vigilance and preparedness in the face of extreme weather events.