NASA satellite shows Hurricane Matthew forming concentric eyewalls

An incredible new video released by NASA details the ever-changing form of Hurricane Matthew as it barrels toward the east coast.

New NASA satellite imagery of Hurricane Matthew shows the powerful storm forming concentric eyewalls as it approaches Florida.

The Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) core satellite captured an image of those double eyewalls. A hurricane's eyewalls is the area immediately surrounding the storm's eye. Eyewalls usually consist of intense thunderstorms and extreme winds.

Americans prepare for Hurricane Matthew

"GPM had a recent overpass at 3:06 p.m. EDT that shows that Matthew is undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle," Scott Braun, research meteorologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, told NASA. "The GPM image showed concentric rings of precipitation. The inner ring is the original eyewall, the larger outer ring is the new one"

According to Braun, the formation of the second eyewall increases the size of the eye. The original small eye had more intense winds, but the larger eye will cover more area. With the expansion of Hurricane Matthew's eye, the storm was downgraded from a category-4 to a category-3.

While the storm has been downgraded, NASA warns the larger eye means the storm does not need to travel as close to the coast for the coast to experience the eyewall's winds.

Hurricane Matthew has left death and destruction in its path so far through the Caribbean. Over 500 people have been reported dead in Haiti alone.

Images of devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew

States of emergency have been declared in Florida and Georgia. Over 2 million residents on Florida's east coast were ordered to evacuate this week, and evacuations of coastal towns in Georgia and South Carolina continued Thursday morning.

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