Hurricane Ian Captured in Infrared by AIRS. NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard the Aqua satellite captured imagery of Hurricane Ian over the Gulf of Mexico between Cuba and Florida just before 2 a.m. local time Sept. 28, 2022. At that time, the Category 3 storm was in a period of rapid intensification - when a hurricane's wind speeds increase by 35 mph (56 kph) or more within 24 hours - while moving northward toward Florida after having recently made landfall over western Cuba. The image shows cloud or surface temperature measurements taken at infrared wavelengths. The large purple area indicates very cold clouds at about minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 67 degrees Celsius, or around 210 Kelvin on the map's scale). These clouds are carried high into the atmosphere by tall thunderstorms and are associated with very heavy rainfall. Warmer areas with shallower rain clouds are shown in blue and green. The orange and red areas represent mostly cloud-free air. The