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Hurricane Idalia as seen from the International Space Station looks like a huge, sprawling white circular cloud. It dominates the image, with the water of the Gulf of Mexico mostly visible in the bottom right portion of the photo. Also at bottom right is part of Cuba. At top is some of Earth's curvature and at bottom left is part of the space station.
NASA

June 1 marks the beginning of the 2024 hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. NASA observes and studies hurricanes from space, both with views from the space station and with satellites. This vantage point helps scientists understand how climate change impacts hurricanes and learn how communities can better prepare for tropical cyclones in a warmer world.

On Aug. 29, 2023, one of the International Space Station’s external high-definition cameras captured Hurricane Idalia in the Gulf of Mexico. Idalia was a category 1 storm over the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 140 kilometers (85 miles) per hour. As the storm moved north over the Gulf, it quickly strengthened and made landfall over the Big Bend region of Florida on the morning of August 30, 2023, as a category 3 storm.

Image Credit: NASA

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