Intense String of Hurricanes Seen From Space

  • Released Wednesday, October 4, 2017
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In 2017, we have seen four Atlantic storms rapidly intensify with three of those storms - Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria - making landfall.

When hurricanes intensify a large amount in a short period, scientists call this process rapid intensification. This is the hardest aspect of a storm to forecast and it can be most critical to people’s lives.

While any hurricane can threaten lives and cause damage with storm surges, floods, and extreme winds, a rapidly intensifying hurricane can greatly increase these risks while giving populations limited time to prepare and evacuate.

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Complete transcript available.

Music credits: 'Micro Currents' by Jean-Patrick Voindrot [SACEM], 'Sink Deep' by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS], Mikey Rowe [PRS] from Killer Tracks.

Rapid intensification is the hardest aspect of a storm to forecast and it can be most critical to people's lives. This GIF is optimized for posting on Twitter.

Rapid intensification is the hardest aspect of a storm to forecast and it can be most critical to people's lives. This GIF is optimized for posting on Twitter.

Rapidly intensifying storms typically occur up to twice in a hurricane season. But in 2017, we have seen four storms rapidly intensify and scientists attribute this to warmer ocean waters and favorable winds. This GIF is optimized for posting on Twitter.

Rapidly intensifying storms typically occur up to twice in a hurricane season. But in 2017, we have seen four storms rapidly intensify and scientists attribute this to warmer ocean waters and favorable winds. This GIF is optimized for posting on Twitter.

For More Information

See https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/main/index.html

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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This page was originally published on Wednesday, October 4, 2017.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:47 PM EDT.