Space Station astronaut snaps breathtaking pictures of record-breaking typhoon

Super Typhoon Maysak viewed from the International Space Station on Tuesday March 31, 2015.

Image: Twitter/AstroSamantha

By Andrew Freedman2015-04-01 00:18:36 UTC

Super Typhoon Maysak's maximum sustained winds of 160 miles per hour are churning the waters of the Western Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, lashing the tiny island of Yap, with a population of only 11,000, with strong winds and heavy rain.

Yet from far above, the storm looks other-wordly, like something that might fit better on Jupiter rather than our home planet.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station overflew the typhoon's massive circulation on Tuesday, with Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti snapping this breathtaking shot of the storm as it buffeted the tiny island of Yap. She also captured several close-up images of the storm's eye, which is surrounded by the storm's fiercest winds and heaviest rains.

Super Typhoon Maysak has already set records by achieving its high intensity, marking the first time there have been two major typhoons of Category 3 or above before April 1.

The typhoon is the third of the year so far in the Western Pacific, which sets a record for the most typhoons so early in the Western Pacific typhoon season. Typically, the most active period in this ocean basin is from May through October.

Forecasts call for the Super Typhoon to weaken as it encounters cooler ocean waters and a more hostile atmospheric environment before it nears the northern Philippines on April 4. Depending on its exact track and intensity, Super Typhoon Maysak may present a significant flooding threat, even if its winds were to die down by then.

Here's another view of the storm from space, this time via satellite, as it moves to the northwest, sustained by unusually mild ocean waters. The island to the south of the storm's clear, calm eye is Yap, which is part of the Federated States of Micronesia.

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Space Station astronaut snaps breathtaking pictures of record-breaking typhoon