A NASA astronaut has captured stunning images of the destructive Hurricane Beryl from space.
Matthew Dominick took the images as the International Space Station traveled more than 200 miles above the Caribbean on July 1.
“Looking into the eye with the 50-500mm lens gave me a creepy feeling and a high level of weather nerd-like excitement,” Dominick shared in an X post.
Hurricane Beryl has killed at least six people and is expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica.
The astronaut pointed his lens toward Earth on Monday as Beryl made its first landing on the Caribbean islands.
Dominick pointed his lens toward Earth on Monday as Beryl made its first landing on the Caribbean islands.
At the time, the hurricane was still a Category 4 with winds of 130 mph.
The images show the storm spinning around the Atlantic Ocean with a well-organized eye at the center, SWNS reported.
NASA studies hurricanes from space through images like those taken by astronauts, as “the vantage point helps scientists understand how climate change impacts hurricanes and learn how communities can better prepare.”
The ferocious Category 5 storm has already caused significant damage after 165mph winds lashed parts of the Caribbean.
Storm surges of up to nine feet above typical tide levels, as well as heavy rainfall, are possible in Jamaica.
National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said: ‘There is a high level of danger in the Caribbean, especially in the mountainous islands.
Matthew Dominick took the images as the International Space Station hovered more than 200 miles above the Caribbean on July 1.
“Looking into the eye with the 50-500mm lens gave me an eerie feeling and a high level of excitement about the weather,” he said in an X post.
“This could lead to life-threatening flash flooding and landslides in some of these areas.”
A new model has also predicted that Hurricane Beryl will devastate six US states.
Earlier data suggested the hurricane could touch Texas over the weekend.
The National Hurricane Center has now added parts of the state to the hurricane forecast cone.
Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky could also be caught in the storm’s path, according to a model presented by hurricane expert Dr. Levi Cowan.
At least five spaghetti models — data broken into segments that show a storm’s potential path — now indicate the hurricane will hit the United States.
The images show the storm spinning around the Atlantic Ocean with a well-organized eye at the center.
Hurricane Beryl has killed at least six people and is expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica
For Beryl, most of the five models impacting the U.S. show Texas in the line of fire, but an additional track suggests Louisiana could also see some impact, with the possibility of the storm sweeping across all six states.
“It really depends on where the hurricane is launching when it arrives on Friday. If it comes from the Yucatan Peninsula far enough north, it can continue to gain latitude and threaten the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, which could mean that northern Mexico or Texas and the US Gulf Coast could be threatened,” Dr Cowan said.
“But if it crosses lower, let’s say if it’s a weaker storm, then it will probably continue westward, toward eastern Mexico.”
Beryl’s path will be determined by the level of pressure over the southeast.
If this slows, the storm could move northward, which could spell disaster for the United States.
Gulf Coast residents are urged to be on the lookout for the record-breaking storm, the earliest Category 5 hurricane to hit the Atlantic basin, the Caribbean and Central America.