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Where is it?North Atlantic Ocean .
What ’s in the photo?Hurricanes Katia , Irma and Jose in a almost - perfect line .
From left to right: Hurricane Katia, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Jose line up before bombarding U.S. and Mexico in September 2017..
Which orbiter took the photo?Suomi National Polar - revolve Partnership ( Suomi NPP ) .
When was it taken?September 8 , 2017 .
In this 2017 satellite photo , a trio of hurricanes — include one of the most powerful tropic storms of the last decade — formed a virtually - perfect line as they marched through " hurricane back street . " Some of the swirling tempest , which initially appear to be in the wrong monastic order , later made landfall in the U.S. and Mexico .
Hurricane Irma caused more than $320 million worth of damage when it made landfall in Florida, according to the National Weather Center.
The three hurricanes — Katia ( left ) , Irma ( center ) and Jose ( right ) — were spotted by the Suomi NPP weather planet , which is co - run byNASAand the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) . While they seem to be follow one another , the storms are each traveling in a different direction : Katia made landfall in Mexico on Sept. 9 ; Irma struck Florida on Sept. 10 ; and Jose eventually dissipate off the New England coast on Sept. 22 .
Most Atlantic hurricanes form in the same expanse of water between Northwest Africa and the Gulf of Mexico , nickname hurricane back street . However , it ’s rare to see so many of them so close together — and forming such a regimented line , consort toNASA ’s Earth Observatory .
Major Atlantic storm arenamed alphabeticallybased on the order they appear in each year’shurricane season . So it might seem unknown that Katia is in front of both Irma and Jose in the queue to make landfall .
However , the storm did not form in the ordering they seem in the image . Irma mold first , on Aug. 30 near Africa ’s Cape Verde islands . Jose come out next on Sept. 5 in the mid - Atlantic , not far from where it is in the photo . Katia also formed on Sept. 5 , slightly after Jose , but was birthed in Mexico ’s Bay of Campeche , which is why it is closest to land in the photo .
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Hurricane Irmawas the most destructive of the three storm . This powerful Category 5 storm triggered violent storm surge up to 8 feet ( 2.5 meters ) mellow , unleashing as much as 20 inches ( 50 cm ) of rainwater in certain area and spawn at least five disjoined tornado , according to theNational Weather Center . One person was killed directly by its current of air , which reach a maximal speed of 130 mph ( 210 kilometer / h ) , while up to 33 people were vote down indirectly by the violent storm .
At the time , it was reported that Hurricane Irma had the slap-up accumulated cyclone vigor ( ACE ) — the entire amount of wind free energy generated throughout the life history of a tropical cyclone — of any tropical storm on global record , according to NASA ’s Earth Observatory . However , calculations afterward downgraded its power .
The all - meter ACE record wasrecently broken in 2023 by Cyclone Freddy , which appeared in the Indian Ocean and made landfall three disjoined times , decimate parts of Madagascar and Mozambique .
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