Hurricane Arthur's giant eye, 30 miles wide, made landfall in North Carolina Thursday night -- appropriately enough, at Cape Lookout. But it wasn't just 101 miles per hour winds that heralded the eye's coming. You could follow the online posts from the eerie heart of the storm as it moved inland.
Pilot Ricky Matthews, in the Crystal Coast port of Morehead City, described the scene:
I'm in the eye of #Arthur pic.twitter.com/ZgM64Ny0g1— Ricky Matthews (@wxrjm) July 4, 2014
I've never experienced anything like this before. Being in the eye of #Arthur is incredible. Most amazing weather ever.— Ricky Matthews (@wxrjm) July 4, 2014
Here's a 3D representation of what the eye looks like -- an area of calm surrounded by the high winds of the so-called eyewalls.
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Post by Larry Mowry.
Just to the west of Ricky Matthews, in Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington, Dean Norris -- better known as Sgt. Hank Schrader on Breaking Bad -- set out to record the moment the eye of the storm hit:
and followed up with an equally defiant tweet:
Rockin the eye of #Arthur right now in Wrightsville Beach. Stay safe Hatteras.— dean norris (@deanjnorris) July 4, 2014
Norris wasn't the only foolhardy fellow hunting the eye of the beast. They were at it in the sky, too.
Inside the eye of #Arthur from #NOAA43 (NOAA P3) Photo credit Nikki Perrini -- July 3, 2014 pic.twitter.com/ZHWJ1EEoqX— NOAAHurricaneHunters (@NOAA_HurrHunter) July 4, 2014
Still, it looks like you got a much better view of the whole thing from space.
Hurricane #Arthur has grown an eye since we last met. pic.twitter.com/HBJoDrcNxQ— Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) July 3, 2014
Stay safe, everyone down there. Especially because the eye appears to be breaking up; at any moment, you can be in the storm again. Take a gentle reminder from this earlier YouTube video, posted by a lighthouse on the North Carolina coast. This is what 99 miles per hour wind looks like: