Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav hung over Jamaica on the afternoon of August 29, 2008, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image. The storm had developed, taking on a distinct circular shape that it had not displayed in previous days. A small, dark depression hints at the location of the eye. At the time that MODIS acquired this image, Gustav was a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour) according to the National Hurricane Center.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. Caption by Holli Riebeek.