Haunting skull image of Hurricane Matthew spooks the Internet

Haunting skull image of Hurricane Matthew spooks the Internet

Monster storm Hurricane Matthew now has a monster image to match, after a creepy satellite photo of the storm was posted on Tuesday (Oct 4) by Weather Channel senior meteorologist Stu Ostro as the hurricane made landfall in Haiti.

The foreboding image of the hurricane, resembling a human skull, has taken the Internet by storm, reported CNN.

Seen through an infrared camera lens, the image has been tweaked to show the storm in apocalyptic colours that accentuate the hurricane's eye and make its teeth look like the comic book character Ghost Rider or the Grinch, some Twitter users suggested.

[embed]https://twitter.com/StuOstro/status/783310691583361024[/embed]

While it might be creepy, the image has its purposes. CNN meteorologist Judson Jones explains that "basically, scientists use colour tables to identify the strongest part of the storm".

In the viral Twitter post, grey, black and red were chosen, reported CNN.

[embed]https://twitter.com/StuOstro/status/783200691712057344[/embed]

Paul Meyer, an atmospheric scientist at Nasa's Earth Science Office, told CNN that the skull's "teeth" are cold convective clouds.

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This article was first published on October 6, 2016.
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