September 16, 2005 (HDW) North Carolina - Over the last several days, Hurricane Ophelia has meandered off of the southeast coast of the United States. The storm system, which began as a depression over the Bahamas on September 6, 2005, has twice stalled out and made loops: once just east of Cape Canveral, Florida and the other further out to sea east of Georgia. Ophelia has also flip-flopped several times between a strong tropical storm and a weak Category 1 hurricane. Despite its very slow movement, which usually leads to weakening due to upwelling of cooler water, Ophelia has maintained itself as a result of warm waters an its proximity to the Gulf Stream.
The picture above of Ophelia was taken by Astronauts on the International Space Station on 10 September 2005. The slow-moving storm was forecast to dump heavy rain on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but proved less destructive than feared. One death (due to a car accident in Raleigh attributed to slick roads) has been attributed to the storm, but fears of substantial flooding have largely not been realized.