If you ever wanted to know what it’s like standing beneath the eye of a hurricane, now you know.
Hurricane Michael, which just a few days ago was nothing but a cloud, struck the US Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm.
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In fact, Hurricane Michael was the third most powerful storm to strike the US mainland. Ever. Even more intense than Maria last year and Katrina in 2005.
Even though it packed winds of 250km/h, the eye of every cyclonic storm is almost always noticeably calmer. And that was the case with Michael too.
Meteorologist Ed Russo published a video taken by Facebook user Stefan Melendez from the hurricane’s eye. Viewed more than 160 000 times, the clip clearly shows the storm’s towering eye wall. The sun’s peaking through blue skies too.
Wow! Video from directly underneath the eye wall of #HurricaneMichael. Taken by Stefan Melendez on Facebook. pic.twitter.com/KfIrrIdtoL
— Ed Russo (@EdRussoWSBT) 10 October 2018
The video also sparked replies from a number of users who reportedly experienced something similar.
“I experienced this with Hurricane Charley in 2004. The eye went right over my house and I went outside and looked up to stars (it was about 10:30 at night) and calm. Eerie and unforgettable,” one user tweeted.
“If you were in the center of path of the eye, you had nearly an hour of sunshine and calm before wind immediately kicked back in at 155 mph. (We grilled steaks while in the eye of a Super Typhoon years ago),” reminisced another.
Michael now remains a tropical storm occupying a vast swathe of Georgia. According to the National Hurricane Centre’s forecast, it’s expected to remain a tropical storm, transit the Atlantic, and possibly impact Ireland and Britain in the coming days.
Feature image: NASA
