The creepy image uploaded by the NOAA shows a one-eyed menacing skull, with half of its face exposed in grey, surrounded by a sea of red.
The Category 4 storm is raging towards the Gulf Coast with Florida, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia set to be hit by the devastating winds and torrential rains.
Meteorologist Jim Dickey commented on the hurricane’s skull-like appearance, and tweeted: “Michael has that ‘skull’ appearance on IR satellite this morning as the eye is beginning to clear out through the CDO.”
The central dense overcast (CDO) is the cloud shield surrounding the circulation centre of the hurricane, also known as the “eye” of the storm.
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The satellite picture is taken through an infrared camera lens, tweaked with apocalyptic colours to show the temperatures of cloud tops above the hurricane, depicting the varying strengths of the storm.
Users were quick to comment on Hurricane Michael‘s sinister appearance, as the swirling storm continues its menacing path towards Florida’s Gulf shore.
One Twitter user said: “The center of Hurricane Michael looks like a skull… Happy Halloween.”
Another wrote: “It means a great calamity is coming. Be prepared, this is the sign if the time. Every time a Skull shows up, something bad is going to happen. So get out of that area, while you can.”
Hurricane Michael’s latest satellite image shows a skull (Image: NOAA)
The eerie picture comes as Hurricane Michael makes its treacherous path towards the Florida Panhandle, endangering residents with towering waves and heavy winds.
Michael, which has intensified into a Category 4 hurricane, and is expected to make landfall across the Gulf Coast early on Wednesday.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue tweeted: “Eye is becoming well defined, clearing/warming and symmetric/circular.
“On satellite, this is a definite Category 4 — but we will await aircraft observation to confirm … Not good.”
Hurricane Michael will make landfall on Wednesday (Image: WXCHARTS)
The hurricane will bring wind speeds of up to 130mph, unleashing waves as high as 13 feet, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) has warned.
Authorities have issued dire warnings, ordering more than 500,000 people to evacuate their homes before Hurricane Michael arrives.
Thousands of residents in Gulf states of Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas have fled their homes, fearing their lives as the fierce storm plows its way towards the coast.
Florida Governor Rick Scott in a Tweet early on Wednesday: “THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE to evacuate before conditions start deteriorating within the next few hours.”
Hurricane Michael NOAA latest map shows the storm swirling towards the Gulf Coast (Image: NOAA)
The storm is approximately 180 miles from Panama City Florida, where Michael is expected to strike first.
Meteorologist Jim Cantore said: “Florida panhandle residents should all be prepared for a major hurricane landfall! We are in uncharted territory with this one.”
Hurricane Michael marks one of the most dangerous and devastating hurricanes to strike the Gulf Coast in more than a century, endangering thousands of lives.
Meteorologist Brad Nitz said: “Hurricane Michael is expected to become a category 4 hurricane before landfall on the Florida Panhandle Wednesday.
Hurricane Michael: Flood warnings have been put in place (Image: NOAA)
“There has never been a landfalling category 4 hurricane on the panhandle since records began in 1851.
“This is extremely dangerous and life-threatening.”
Over the weekend, Hurricane Michael battered Central America, killing 13 people after the storm hit the coast of norther Honduras.