Hurricane Rina Projected Path: Set to Hit Florida
Hurricane Rina is steadily approaching Mexico and Florida today, forcing a reaction from NASA.
Hurricane Rina, which started as a Category 2 storm over the northwest Caribbean Sea, could advance to a Category 3 by tonight, according to FOX reports. The network also reported that Mike Fossum, a space station commander of NASA, radioed Houston Mission Control to warn about the storm.
"We have a view of Hurricane Rina in the video camera here," said Fossum to NASA. “It's a biggun."
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Mission control responded that they already noticed the powerful storm coming their way.
"We're seeing it too, Mike - sustained winds of about 105 miles an hour," replied Mission Control.
The Herald-Times reported that the storm could head to Florida over the weekend, and was traveling with wind speeds at 110 mph on Tuesday night.
Although the storm is expected to move towards the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, the Herald-Times reported that it could miss Mexico all together. Instead, the storm may rear its ugly head toward Cuba and Florida.
Joe Sobel, senior vice president of AccuWeather.com, said that the storm would most likely stay in a lower category if it visits the sunshine state.
"We would think if it's going to impact Florida it would probably be in the Category 1 range," said Sobel, according to the Herald-Times.
Rina began as a tropical depression on Sunday evening, and managed to become a Category 1 by Monday afternoon.
Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said residents in the U.S. should carefully monitor the storm.
"We really encourage residents of South Florida and the Keys to pay attention," said Blake.
