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Florida Keys and Key West, Florida (November 1990)

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This south-looking, low-oblique photograph captures the southernmost city in the continental United States, Key West, with the runways of the Key West Naval Air Station obvious near the center of the photograph. The island of Key West [4 miles (6 kilometers) long and 2 miles (3 kilometers) wide and located 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Florida] is one of the Florida Keys, a chain of small coral and limestone islands and reefs that curves southwest for 150 miles (240 kilometers) from just south of Miami Beach to Key West. The causeway connecting the mainland with Key West was completed in 1938, just 3 years after the city was rebuilt following extensive hurricane damage. Many of the islands are habitable; they are generally covered with dense growths of low trees, shrubs, and mangrove swamps. The Florida Keys are noted for their tropical vegetation, commercial fisheries, and resorts. Especially popular in winter, Key West is an artist colony, a fishing resort, a commercial shrimping and fishing center, and a cigar manufacturing site.

Florida Peninsula, Florida (January 1985)

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The Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Stream bracket the Florida Peninsula on the west and east. The lighter shade of blue in the Gulf of Mexico is due to the much shallower (continental shelf) water depths of less than 200 feet (60 meters), whereas the much darker blue of the Gulf Stream is due to water depths in excess of 2000 feet (610 meters). Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor are fairly large water embayments along the west coast, and Lake Okeechobee is the large body of water in the south-central part of the state. Numerous smaller lakes can also be seen generally extending north and south through the central part of the state. Practically all of the lakes in central Florida have been created by the interaction of water with the limestone rock that underlies most of the state. Thus, through time, sinkholes have developed, occasionally swallowing houses and roads as the limestone rock collapses. This type of topography is termed "karst." Visible along the southeastern coast of Florida is a large urban area that stretches roughly from Homestead in the south to beyond West Palm Beach in the north (including the greater Miami area). This built-up area is known as the "Gold Coast" of Florida. To the west of this vibrant and ever-growing urban area is the vast, relatively uniform-looking swampland of the Everglades, which is virtually uninhabited by humans. In fact, most of the flat, saw grass landscape is occasionally interrupted by small stands of hardwood hammocks; this area is part of the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades National Park. Most of the Florida Keys are visible as they form an archipelago that arcs to the southwest from the southern tip of Florida. Also visible are parallel lines of clouds that have been formed as a cool air mass from the northwest is pushed across the warmer water of the Gulf Stream. A very faint smoke plume that originates near the Georgia-South Carolina border provides a clue to the wind direction at the time this photograph was taken.

Frontal System and Thunderstorms, Florida (April 1984)

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This spectacular, low-oblique photograph shows a convective line of thunderstorms associated with a passing cold front over Florida. A shadow from the height of the thunderstorms, caused by early morning sunlight, can be seen traversing the scene southwest to northeast. Some of these storms were estimated to reach heights in excess of 40 000 feet (12 000 meters). The V-shaped cloud structure is normally associated with cold fronts that cross the Gulf of Mexico and Florida in late winter and early spring. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes usually occur with this type of storm system. At the time this photograph was taken, weather stations across Florida reported severe thunderstorms, strong winds, hail, torrential rains, and numerous tornadoes.

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