This image of the eye of Hurricane Ivan, one of the strongest hurricanes on record, was taken Saturday from an altitude of about 230 miles by Astronaut Mike Fincke, the science officer and flight engineer aboard the International Space Station
This image of the eye of Hurricane Ivan, one of the strongest hurricanes on record, was taken Saturday from an altitude of about 230 miles by Astronaut Mike Fincke, the science officer and flight engineer aboard the International Space Station.
At the time, Ivan was in the western Caribbean Sea and had winds of 160 mph.
A hurricane's eye is relatively calm, because air pumped radically skyward around the eye settles in the eye, creating a modest downward flow, with clear skies.
As of Tuesday morning, Ivan had moved through the channel between Cuba and the Yucatan Penninsula and was headed toward the United States' Gulf Coast. Ivan's top sustained winds, which always occur near the eye, were still 160 mph as of 5 a.m. ET.
Ivan is a dangerous Category 5 storm, the top ranking on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. It will likely weaken some before making landfall, but forecasters say it will still probably be a major hurricane capable of causing widespread and serious damage.
Landfall is expected to occur late Wednesday or early Thursday somewhere between the Florida Panhandle and the highly vulnerable city of New Orleans. Ringed by dikes, much of the metropolis is below sea level; parts of the city are 8 feet lower than nearby Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River delta. Scientists say this bowl full of more than a million people is destined to one day fill with water when a major hurricane strikes, pushing ocean water over the dikes.
Your Local Forecast
-- Robert Roy Britt
Credit: NASA/JSC
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