As the potentially historic Hurricane Milton makes its way eastward toward Florida, forcing millions to evacuate much of the sunshine state, satellites in space are documenting the storm’s sheer size and devastating power.
PetaPixel shared incredible still images of Milton earlier today, and now there are new videos from space that put Milton’s dangers into jaw-dropping perspective.
Astronaut Matthew Dominick, space photographer extraordinaire, shared a timelapse video today from the International Space Station (ISS) earlier today, showing Milton’s status this morning. The timelapse, shot at 0.5-second intervals and shared at 30 frames per second, shows Milton’s immense size.
Timelapse flying by Hurricane Milton about 2 hours ago.
1/6400 sec exposure, 14mm, ISO 500, 0.5 sec interval, 30fps pic.twitter.com/p5wBlC95mx
— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) October 8, 2024
Milton has continued to grow in the Gulf of Mexico as it heads toward Florida, which has reduced the storm’s category but increased the area it is expected to hit. A destructive, life-threatening storm surge is expected along the western Florida Gulf Coast, and Floridians are urged to seek safety.
Dominick was set to return from the ISS yesterday alongside fellow astronauts Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grenbenkin, but the homecoming was delayed due to the hurricane.
“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the National Hurricane Center explained earlier today. The storm surge could reach 10 to 15 feet above ground level along Florida’s western coast. It may hit Tampa Bay at the same time as the area experiences high tide, making the situation exceptionally dangerous.
Alongside Dominick’s timelapse video, NASA has shared two new videos showing Milton as seen by external cameras aboard the International Space Station. The first video below is from the morning of October 7, while the second shows Milton today, October 8.
Sen livestreams Earth from space using its 4K cameras aboard the ISS, and a clip from this morning shows Milton with even more resolution than NASA’s videos above.
Hurricane Milton filmed from Orbit during our public livestream on October 8 at 2:40pm – captured from our 4K cameras on the ISS. Follow @Sen for more live videos of Earth and space pic.twitter.com/UHFvW2Pxen
— sen (@sen) October 8, 2024
While Hurricane Milton is beautiful to view from space, the dangers it poses to those on the ground in its path cannot be overstated. Just weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the United States, killing over 200 people and causing widespread devastation, Milton is poised to cause billions of dollars in damage and result in fatalities.
Image credits: Featured image courtesy of Matthew Dominick and NASA
