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Hurricane Irma weather maps reveal creepy skull-like face

An unnerving satellite photo of Hurricane Irma reminds some of a similar sinister image of Hurricane Matthew from last year.

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Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
CNET freelancer Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

Hurricanes show their devastating power, but it seems recently, the storms also like to show their faces.

Weather Channel senior meteorologist Stu Ostro shared a satellite image of Hurricane Irma on Twitter late Friday that had sinister face-like features, including a grim mouth and disturbing eye.

Ostro paired the image with a similar one of Hurricane Matthew captured last October when that storm made landfall in Haiti. (We wrote about it here.)

Irma's image looks less terrifying than Matthew to some, primarily because the 2016 Matthew image appeared more skull-like, even baring its "teeth."

Some Twitter users found less frightening reminders in the image.

Of course, as some Twitter users pointed out, there's a name for the tendency our minds have to perceive some familiar pattern where none exists.

But some people can make everything about food, and that's at least a little comforting.

Tech Culture: From film and television to social media and games, here's your place for the lighter side of tech.

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Hurricane hunters witness Irma's ire from above

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