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Photograph by Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, NASA GSFC Visualization Analysis Lab
This NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) image shows Hurricane Floyd just off the Florida coast on September 14, 1999. With hurricane-force winds extending 125 miles (201 kilometers) from the storm's eye and sustained winds up to 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour, Floyd threatened coastal areas in Southeastern states, forcing many evacuations, including NASA's Kennedy Space Center. -
Photograph by Otis Imboden
The powerful wind and rain of a hurricane pummel a building in Florida. Hurricanes are giant, spiraling tropical storms that can pack wind speeds of over 160 miles (257 kilometers) an hour and unleash more than 2.4 trillion gallons (9 trillion liters) of rain a day. -
Photograph by Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
At the time this image was taken on September 14, 2003, Hurricane Isabel was packing maximum sustained winds of 155 miles (250 kilometers) per hour, making it a rare and powerful Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane scale. -
Photograph by David Alan Harvey
Waters whipped up by Hurricane Gloria smash against the Rodanthe Pier in North Carolina. The Atlantic Ocean's hurricane season peaks from mid-August to late October and averages five to six hurricanes per year. -
Photograph by SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE
The first Northeast Pacific hurricane of 2000, Aletta, was spinning 300 miles (482 kilometers) off the coast of Mexico with sustained winds of 80 miles (128 kilometers) per hour and gusts up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour. The best way to defend oneself against a hurricane is an accurate forecast that gives people time to get out of its way.
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