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Hurricane Florence, the category 2 storm that is heading straight for my parents' home in South Carolina, is in full alert.
But between evacuations and shutter installations, NASA and NOAA keep people informed and entertained.
The agency's fleet of satellites follows various elements, including location, wind speed, precipitation and temperature.
As the east coast approaches, meteorologists focus on two key factors: ocean temperature and wind speed (the difference in speed in the high and low parts of the storm).
Forecasters have warned of deadly storm surges, catastrophic floods, damaging winds and dangerous tear currents along the coastlines of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
The crisis began last week, when three hurricanes – Florence, Isaac and Helen – began to hit the North Atlantic. Florence, the most threatening for US residents, is expected to touch land today.
As terrifying as the situation is (I regularly check my parents, who left Charleston for the North Carolina Highlands), there is a positive side.
Watch a hurricane (via Alexander Gerst)
Early Wednesday, astronaut Alexander Gerst captured this absolutely stunning image of Florence's eye from the International Space Station, some 250 miles above the Earth.
"Have you ever seen the gaping eye of a category 4 hurricane? It's scary, even space, " tweeted.
(This is just one of the dazzling images that the cosmonaut has taken, check out Gerst's flickr album for more information.)
NASA also shared this video – a "striking and sobering" view of Hurricane Florence – filmed using a high-definition camera outside of the ISS captured.
Hurricane Florence approaches the east coast (via NOAA)
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite, for its part, took a truly impressive photo of the whirlwind, moving closer to the southern United States.
NASA's Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the DSCOVR satellite acquired this view of Florence and two other storms on September 11 (via NASA)
Florence is joined by Tropical Storm Isaac and Hurricane Helene in this snapshot taken 1 million kilometers Tuesday via the NASA Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the satellite DSCOVR.
Hurricane Irma last year ravaged the Caribbean islands and Florida, where Tesla Motors has extended the range of its vehicles to help fleeing drivers. The event also propelled the Zello digital walkie-talkie application to number 1. Learn more about our changing climate here.
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