‘Well, damn!’ Video shows Milton jostling Hurricane Hunter aircraft

One shouldn’t expect a smooth ride through a hurricane, but Milton knocked the Hurricane Hunter crew around a bit as they entered the storm’s eye Tuesday.

The NOAA crew flew the WP-3D Orion “Miss Piggy” into Hurricane Milton to collect data to help improve the forecast.

As the crew flew into the eye, you could see the heavy “sideways” rain against the windows. Then the aircraft hits a big pocket of turbulence, and objects go flying as the crew hang onto their seats.

Seconds later, the view outside the aircraft calms down as they enter the eye of the storm.

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The latest forecast shows Hurricane Milton strengthening again as it moves toward Florida. It’s expected to hit the Gulf Coast as a major hurricane.

Both the Air Force and NOAA have Hurricane Hunters teams, which fly into some of the most dangerous storms and provide the data that help meteorologists forecast more accurate models over time.

There are two different types of aircraft flying in and out of storms collecting critical data. The first one is the C-130 from the U.S. Air Force. The second is on the NOAA side, the P3. It’s also collecting critical data by dropping instruments but also recording the storm with its tail radar, which works like taking a CAT scan of the storm.

Jonathan Kegges checked out the Hurricane Hunter aircraft back in June. You can watch that story here.

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