ABC News October 9, 2024

This is what monstrous Hurricane Milton looks like from the space station

WATCH: Hurricane Milton seen from space as it approaches Florida

The best view of Hurricane Milton may come from 250 miles above Earth.

Milton, which is churning off the western coast of Florida, was captured by external cameras on the International Space Station just before 9 a.m. ET. The massive storm clouds can be seen heading for landfall somewhere just south of Tampa, near Sarasota.

The ISS seems to be slowly floating over the monstrous storm, but it's actually traveling in orbit at about 17,500 mph.

MORE: Hurricane Milton tracker: Florida braces for Wednesday night landfall near Sarasota

Milton is expected to make landfall around 9 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

Sen, which also has camera on the space station, shared a timelapse video filmed with its 4K cameras on Wednesday morning.

The trip over Milton was the only one it will make in orbit on Wednesday, and likely the last before landfall.

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, whose return to Earth from the ISS on Crew-8 was delayed a few days by Milton, also captured timelapse video Wednesday morning from the SpaceX Dragon Endeavor.

Milton was a Category 4 storm at noon on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph. It was moving northeast at 17 mph.

A record-breaking storm surge of up to 12 feet is expected for Tampa Bay and Fort Myers. Storm surge could reach a life-threatening 15 feet near Sarasota.

MORE: Hurricane Milton: Millions under evacuation orders as storm closes in on Florida

Officials in more than a dozen counties along the western coast of Florida are issuing mandatory evacuation orders ahead of the storm.

Heavy rain -- up to 18 inches -- is expected to inundate parts of central Florida, bringing a high risk of flash flooding.

ABC News' Gina Sunseri contributed to this report.