Hurricane Helene charged into Florida’s Big Bend area on September 26, 2024, and pushed north with devastating consequences across several states.
Hurricane Helene charged into Florida’s Big Bend area on September 26, 2024, and pushed north with devastating consequences across several states. The heavy rains, high winds, and storm surge that affected land areas also left a mark on the ocean.
This image (right) shows the Gulf of Mexico on September 29, several days after Helene made landfall. For comparison, the left image shows the same area on September 22 during more typical conditions. Both images were acquired by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-21 satellite.
Helene’s winds and waves churned up sediment from the seafloor along shallow coastal areas. Light reflects from these fine particles and makes the water appear bright blue. Storm surge, flooded rivers, and flash floods produced runoff that eroded land surfaces and carried even more particles into the ocean, adding to the color. NOAA had called for the storm surge to reach as high as 20 feet above ground level along parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Read more at NASA Earth Observatory
Image: NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using MODIS and PACE data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview.
