International Space Station Captures Arthur Spinning Off U.S. Coast

[DeSwiss]

NTDTV • Published on Jul 3, 2014

Hurricane Arthur is seen from space as it churns closer to the U.S. coast, spoiling Independence Day beach plans for thousands of vacationers.

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The first hurricane of the Atlantic season gained strength on Thursday (July 3) as its outer bands reached North Carolina, where thousands of vacationers scrubbed their July Fourth holiday beach plans and evacuated low-lying barrier islands in the storm's path.

Hurricane Arthur was about 150 miles (240 km) south-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina, with maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 km per hour), U.S. forecasters said.

Views from the International Space Station captured the storm churning near Georgia and South Carolina.

Moving faster at 9 mph (15 kph), the center of the Category 1 hurricane was expected to brush close to the North Carolina Outer Banks late Thursday and early Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Tourists and some residents packed ferries and crowded the only highway off Ocracoke and Hatteras islands, where voluntary and mandatory evacuations were in effect in anticipation of worsening weather conditions.

The worst of Arthur's winds were expected to remain offshore, forecasters said. But the storm could bring gusty squalls, heavy rain, life-threatening rip currents and a storm surge of up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) to North Carolina's barrier islands.

Several towns and villages on North Carolina's coast rescheduled Independence Day festivities and fireworks as the storm approached.

The hurricane center said Arthur's winds will hit 85 mph (137 kph) in the next 24 hours, and the storm will retain hurricane strength for at least 48 hours before weakening over cooler water as it spins to the northeast.

[jimlup]

1. My dad lives right on the expected path...

Called him this morning. He's fine and expecting to weather it without problem. He told me if it got bad he'd head up inland for the night. He's far enough inland that he won't take the full force.

[Baclava]

2. Very pretty

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Thank you. nt