Images: Satellites follow killer cyclone

Hurricane Katrina, as seen in this image from August 29, 2005, was a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 145 mph when it hit the U.S. coastline.

Hurricanes and cyclones are basically the same type of storms that contain sustained winds of more than 74 mph. They are called hurricanes over the Atlantic, the Northeast Pacific east of the International Dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean; and cyclones over the Indian Ocean.

Photo by NASA

Caption by Andy Smith