Astronauts Release Astonishing Video of Florence from Outer Space: 'Stark and Sobering'
As residents along the East Coast brace for the brunt of Hurricane Florence’s impact this week, astronauts aboard the International Space Station shared their “stark and sobering” perspective on the massive storm.
Fox News reported that NASA captured the high-definition footage with a camera docked outside of the manned satellite.
In the video posted to NASA’s Twitter account this week, the storm could be seen as it appeared earlier in the day — a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds near 130 mph.
“This morning, a high definition camera outside of the @Space_Station captured a stark and sobering view of #HurricaneFlorence as it churned across the Atlantic with winds of 130 miles an hour,” NASA wrote on Wednesday.
Ricky Arnold is among the astronauts on the space station and shared additional views of the hurricane in a tweet the same day.
#HurricaneFlorence this morning with Cape Hatteras #NorthCarolina in the foreground. The crew of @Space_Station is thinking of those who will be affected. pic.twitter.com/XsQ7Zwurfa
— Ricky Arnold (@astro_ricky) September 12, 2018
“#HurricaneFlorence this morning with Cape Hatteras #NorthCarolina in the foreground,” Arnold wrote. “The crew of @Space_Station is thinking of those who will be affected.”
While the storm’s intense winds have slowed since those images were captured, officials still warn of potentially devastating floods and other emergency situations as a result of the slow-moving system.
Earlier in the week, the National Weather Service posted a video of the intense storm activity headed toward the Carolinas, warning even those living many miles inland that they should prepare for the worst.
Sunlight dawns on a strengthening #Florence in the Atlantic Ocean. Today is the day to get prepared all along the east coast! Don't get complacent just because you live inland! Florence is forecast to bring devastating rainfall and flooding from the coast to the Appalachians. https://t.co/dkcWPFLIKs
— National Weather Service (@NWS) September 10, 2018
“Sunlight dawns on a strengthening #Florence in the Atlantic Ocean,” the NWS wrote on Monday. “Today is the day to get prepared all along the east coast! Don’t get complacent just because you live inland! Florence is forecast to bring devastating rainfall and flooding from the coast to the Appalachians.”
Arnold shared images that day, too, revealing a total of three storms beginning to take shape in the Atlantic Ocean.
Hurricane #Florence this morning as seen from @Space_Station. A few moments later, #Isaac & the outer bands of #Helene were also visible. pic.twitter.com/WJQfS4au4m
— Ricky Arnold (@astro_ricky) September 10, 2018
‘Hurricane #Florence this morning as seen from @Space_Station,” he wrote. “A few moments later, #Isaac & the outer bands of #Helene were also visible.”
A tweet from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed Hurricane Florence’s movement in a time-lapsed video recorded between Monday and Thursday.
The #GOESEast Geostationary Lightning Mapper captured this 3-day time lapse of all the lightning strikes in #HurricaneFlorence on its path toward the U.S. (Sept. 10-13, 2018). See more: https://t.co/zU4z4oQcYs #lightningfromspace pic.twitter.com/cSuVWhN4xE
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) September 13, 2018
“The #GOESEast Geostationary Lightning Mapper captured this 3-day time lapse of all the lightning strikes in #HurricaneFlorence on its path toward the U.S.,” the agency wrote.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
