As Florida was bracing for the impact of Hurricane Milton this week, researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Aircraft Operations Center took the opportunity to learn from the cataclysmic storm. However, this involved actually flying directly into the hurricane.
The NOAA researchers filmed their expedition on the the Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft named "Miss Piggy" in a harrowing video posted to social media. In the clip, at least four researchers can be seen in the plane, with wind and rain battering down outside the window. About 23 second into the video, the craft is violently jolted, but the crew managed to keep their cool.
"Can you grab my phone real quick?" casually asked Programs Integration Engineer Nick Underwood, who was filming the flight, as equipment began tumbling from the shelves. "Holy crap," he exclaimed shortly after. "When you get a chance, can you grab my wallet too? Gotta keep these pockets zipped!"
By the end of the video, another look out the window seemed to indicate that the crew had been through the worst of the turbulence.
In the accompanying post, the agency explained that the "bumpy ride" was conducted in order to collect data to help improve the forecast and support hurricane research. As climate change is producing stronger storms, their research will indeed prove to be invaluable in the years to come.
Jonathan Shannon, Public Affairs Specialist for NOAA Aircraft Operations Center, told the New York Post that these missions are crucial because the researchers "cannot get this important data our forecasters need at this scale and resolution any other way."
"Our NOAA WP-3D Orion aircraft have been flying into storms for almost 50 years," Shannon explained. "We basically take a weather station to the weather." He added that the "best analogy" of these expeditions is that it's like "riding an old wooden roller coaster through a car wash."
Though Milton regained strength on Tuesday afternoon to become a Category 5 storm, by Wednesday morning it had weakened slightly to a Category 4, with sustained winds at 155 mph. Its already second-strongest Gulf hurricane in recorded history, and forecasters warn that it will continue to grow in size as it reaches landfall.
