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How high above Hurricane Florence did the International Space Station have to be in order to take a picture of the whole storm?

Answer: 400 km.

In case anyone needed any further confirmation that this storm is massive, astronaut Alexander Gerst aboard the International Space Station tweeted photos Wednesday morning from directly above the eye of the storm.

According to Gerst’s tweet, the station was 400 km above Florence at the time. That’s about 248.5 miles, or over a million feet. At that distance, the ISS astronaut still needed a super wide-angle lens in order to get the entirety of the swirling mass into the frame. And the resulting images are astounding.

 

Watch out, America! #HurricaneFlorence is so enormous, we could only capture her with a super wide-angle lens from the @Space_Station, 400 km directly above the eye. Get prepared on the East Coast, this is a no-kidding nightmare coming for you. #Horizons pic.twitter.com/ovZozsncfh — Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex) September 12, 2018
 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service also weighed in on the storm via Twitter early Wednesday morning. The organization posted a time-lapse GIF of the sunrise over the storm and eastern coast of North America.

 

#HurricaneFlorence is very large and incredibly dangerous. ✅Follow local evacuation orders! ✅Prepare for life-threatening, catastrophic flooding over portions of the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states late this week into early next week. pic.twitter.com/IWlJYKOZBS — NWS (@NWS) September 12, 2018
 

Kate is a senior copy editor in Northern California. She holds a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in professional writing from the University of California, Davis.