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Hurricane Hunters Fly Through Milton to Gather Data
Video from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows the crew of one if its Hurricane Hunter aircraft flying straight into Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico in order to collect data on the storm.The cockpit footage was captured by Lt Cmdr Joshua Rannenberg of the NOAA Corps on Monday, October 7, and shows the crew of a Lockheed WP-3D Orion airplane named Miss Piggy being knocked around in their seats as they hit turbulence, the NOAA said.That day, Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane as it passed north of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. It was expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.According to the NOAA’s website, “data collected by the agency’s high-flying meteorological stations help forecasters make accurate predictions during a hurricane and help hurricane researchers achieve a better understanding of storm processes, improving their forecast models.” Credit: NOAA Hurricane Hunters via Storyful