July 20, 2005—In this deceptively peaceful scene, Hurricane Emily looks like little more than a dent in a deck of white clouds as the moon rises overhead. But this downy cloudscape hides the might of a record-setting storm.

Astronauts on the International Space Station captured this image Saturday, July 16, when Emily was gaining strength over the Caribbean Sea, whipping up winds approaching 155 miles an hour (249 kilometers an hour). The storm went on to lash Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, where it caused extensive damage but no fatalities.

After churning back into the Gulf of Mexico, Emily made its second landfall this morning some 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of the U.S.-Mexico border, packing winds of 125 miles an hour (201 kilometers an hour).

The 2005 hurricane season is already one for the record books, thanks in no small part to Emily. The hurricane is the most powerful pre-August storm on record, and this is the first season to see two Category Four storms—Dennis and Emily—form before the end of July.

—Blake de Pastino

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