NASA is tracking Hurricane Helene's approach to Florida's eastern coast today, where it is expected to make landfall as a devastating Category 3 storm tonight (Sept. 26) and you can see the stunning views online.
Cameras on the International Space Station captured stream live views of Hurricane Helene at 12:50 p.m. EDT (1650 GMT) for about 8 minutes as the ISS soared high over the storm and the southeastern United States. You can watch video on NASA's YouTube feed or via the agency's NASA+ streaming service, as well as in the window above.
"This is the best pass that we have over Helene today accompanied by downlink from the International Space Station," NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said in live commentary. "As a result, we thought it would be beneficial to bring you these views in real time As the International Space Station passes over the system."
Hurricane Helene is forecast to make landfall late Thursday evening over Florida's Big Bend region of its eastern coast. The storm will hit land "as a major hurricane, but NOAA's National Weather Service is alerting communities that Helene's flooding rainfall and high winds won't be limited to the Gulf Coast and are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland," officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned in a statement late Wednesday (Sept. 25).
"The system is one of the largest ever to form in the Gulf of Mexico," Navias said.
As of 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), Helene's hurricane-force winds extended out to 60 miles (95 km) from its center, with tropical-storm-force winds reaching out about 345 miles (555 km), according to a National Hurricane Center update.
"Even well before landfall, heavy rainfall will begin in portions of the southeastern United States and will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachian region through Friday, where storm total rainfall amounts are forecast to be up to 18 inches," NOAA officials warned.
Weather satellites are tracking Hurricane Helene from space to record its approach to Florida's coast.
As of midday Thursday, Hurricane Helene was located about 255 miles (405 kilometers) southwest of Tampa, Florida with maximum sustained windspeeds of about 105 mph (165 kph), and was moving north northeast at a speed of about 14 mph (22 kph), according to an update from NOAA's National Hurricane Center.
In addition to the storm and flooding threat posed by Helene, the storm has also forced NASA and SpaceX to postpone the planned launch of a new crew to the International Space Station.
SpaceX pushed its Crew-9 astronaut launch for NASA to no earlier then Saturday (Sept. 28), back two days from Sept. 26, due to the storm's approach. The mission will launch NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the station on a crew rotation, and will return to Earth in February with both men and Boeing Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.
Liftoff is currently scheduled for 1:17 p.m. EDT (1717 GMT) on Sept. 26.
NASA's Rob Navias said the ISS will make second and more direct pass over Hurricane Helene at 2:25 p.m. EDT (1825 GMT), when it will capture about five minutes worth of views. That flyover won't be livestreamed live, but will be recorded and released via the NASA+ streaming service and other social media channels.
"For now, stay safe out there," Navias said.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:15 p.m. EDT to include new views of and comments on Hurricane Helene from NASA's ISS flyover.
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