Technologies

Inside Hurricane Lee: See Stunning Views From the Storm’s Swirling Eye

The Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flew into the eye of Hurricane Lee and captured video from within the massive Category 5 storm.

Whether seen from within or from space, Hurricane Lee is a monster. There are still many unknowns about the storm’s path and potential impacts on land.A bold crew of Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flew a plane into Lee’s eye on Thursday, capturing some impressive video from within the belly of the beast. The footage shows thick clouds around the eye, lit up by flashes of lightning.

Here’s last night’s flight inside the eye of Cat 5 #hurricaneLee pic.twitter.com/I9Gmy4sHut

— Hurricane Hunters (@53rdWRS) September 8, 2023

The Hurricane Hunters are officially known as the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. The group operates out of Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Specially equipped Super Hercules aircraft are designed to weather hurricane extremes and gather data on a storm’s winds, temperature and structure.

The view from inside the storm complements what satellites are seeing from far above. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operate the Suomi NPP weather satellite. It captured a view of Lee on Thursday that shows the storm swirling over the Atlantic Ocean.

Satellite view shows large, round Hurricane Lee as white swirling clouds over a dark ocean.

The National Hurricane Center declared Lee a Category 5 storm on Thursday. Hurricanes are ranked from 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale based on the storm’s maximum sustained wind speed. A Category 5 storm has winds of 157 miles per hour or higher. A major storm like this has the potential to cause catastrophic damage to homes, structures, trees and power grids. According to the NHC, a Category 5 hurricane impact can leave an area uninhabitable for weeks or months.

While Lee is for certain a major storm, its future is hard to predict. «It is way too soon to know what level of impact, if any, Lee might have along the US East Coast, Atlantic Canada or Bermuda late next week, particularly since the hurricane is expected to slow down considerably over the southwestern Atlantic,» the NHC said in a Friday morning update.

The NHC warned of a likelihood of dangerous surf and rip currents in the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Bermuda through the weekend. That warning extends to the US East Coast beginning Sunday.

Hurricane Lee represents one of the most powerful storms possible. Research has tied the climate crisis to more extreme and destructive Atlantic storms. NOAA forecasters had originally expected a normal hurricane season for 2023, but it increased the prediction to «above normal» in August, citing record-warm sea surface temperatures. The new outlook calls for up to five major hurricanes like Lee. The Atlantic hurricane season runs through the end of November, so Lee likely won’t be the last monster storm to rage across the ocean.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 3, #876

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle No. 876 for Monday, Nov. 3.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has some exceptionally long clues. All of them have at least two words. If you need help, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Primary color.

Green group hint: Your lungs also qualify.

Blue group hint: Parents’ nightmare toys.

Purple group hint: Look for a connection in the second word of each phrase.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Things that are red.

Green group: Things filled with air.

Blue group: Things with a lot of pieces.

Purple group: Ending with animals.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that are red. The four answers are clown nose, fire engine, maraschino cherry and stop sign.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is things filled with air. The four answers are balloon animal, bouncy castle, water wings and whoopee cushion.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is things with a lot of pieces. The four answers are jigsaw puzzle, Lego set, Lite-Brite and pick-up sticks.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ending with animals. The four answers are dark horse, funky chicken, jumbo shrimp and sea monkey.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 3 #610

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 610 for Monday, Nov. 3.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a really fun one that may take you back to your childhood. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Wee wee wee!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Nursery rhyme counted out on a child’s toes.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RANT, TAME, TAMES, NAME, NAMES, RATE, RATED, GORE, SAME, SPRIG, MARK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight, but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

WENT, MARKET, STAYED, HOME, ROAST, BEEF, NONE

(Confused? Read this classic nursery rhyme.)

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is THISLITTLEPIGGY. To find it, start with a T that’s a bit hard to find. You’ll need to go over three rows from the far left, then count down six letters to find the correct T. Then you wind around and back up (see image above).