Real or fake? Photo of Hurricane Sandy overtop Statue of Liberty goes viral

As residents along the Eastern Seaboard batten down the hatches in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy, a doctored photo of the storm hovering ominously above the Statue of Liberty has started to make the social media rounds.

While it's tempting to believe the Armageddon-style image is the real deal, myth busting website Snopes.com already debunked the photo as skilled manipulation two years ago.

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The swirl of dark clouds actually belongs to a much different storm. Back in 2004, photographer Mike Hollingshead captured these impressive shots of a supercell thunderstorm over the Nebraska skies.

Since then, the picture has been used as the go-to Photoshop image for famous storms around the world, including Hurricane Katrina and even summer rumblers across Alberta and Ontario.

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Now let's extend some warm, dry thoughts to the rain-soaked folks along the Atlantic coast.