Watch NASA’s mesmerizing new visualization of the 2017 hurricane season

Supercomputers and advanced physics made the stunning new simulation possible

Hurricane visualization

BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND  Hurricane Ophelia (its core appears here as a white dot at the lower right) dragged in dust from the Sahara and smoke from wildfires in Portugal as the storm spun northeast toward Ireland in October 2017.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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How do you observe the invisible currents of the atmosphere? By studying the swirling, billowing loads of sand, sea salt and smoke that winds carry.