Fibonacci’sGoldenSpiralinHurricaneIrmaSatelliteImagery

Fibonacci spirals are found all throughout nature due to the prevalence of the Golden Ratio. Leonardo Bonacci, also referred to as Fibonacci, in the 12th century, first discovered the Golden Ratio. Fibonacci posed the following question: If a pair of rabbits is placed in an enclosed area, how many rabbits will be born there if we assume that every month a pair of rabbits produces another pair, and that rabbits begin to bear young two months after their birth? The sequence that is a solution to this question is the sequence that Fibonacci is most famous for: the Fibonacci Sequence. The Golden ratio forms when sequential terms in this sequence are written as a ratio of side lengths of a rectangle. As these rectangles are arranged to create larger rectangles whose proportions are terms of the Fibonacci sequence, a spiral emerges. These spirals are found throughout nature, such as in the formation of Hurricane Irma, which hit most Caribbean Islands and Florida in September 2017. As the high pressure storm clouds spin around the low pressure eye, the clouds form a Golden Spiral as shown in the images above. The rotation of the storm keeps the bands in this spiral and as the storm strengthens, the spiral becomes more pronounced in the bands. The Golden Spiral can be found in numerous places in nature with the satellite imagery of Hurricane Irma being a single occurrence.