NOAA 43 took off just after 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon, heading right for the center of Hurricane Hermine.
- Bay News 9 Crew took a flight with Hurricane Hunters Thursday
- Flight was studying intensification of storm
- 5-hour flight collected data such as pressure, wind speed, wind direction
- Hurricane Hunters: What they do
The focus of the flight was for Hurricane Hunters to focus on studying how rapidly a storm intensifies.
"On the back of the airplane, there's this big radar and what we're doing is we're getting CAT scans effectively of the hurricane and we're getting a good understanding of the vertical stretch of the hurricane and all the parts and pieces that are kind of making the engine go," said Ian Sears, Flight Director/Meteorologist.
Dropsondes also gather important information about the storm. More than twenty were dropped during the five-hour flight.
Each dropsonde costs $600-$800.
"The big thing that dropsondes tell us is pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed and wind direction," said Terry Lynch, Chief of the Technical Section with the Hurricane Hunters.
At 10,000 feet, winds hit some 86 miles-per-hour. The flight passed through multiple rain bands to get to the center of the storm. Thursday’s flight had the most turbulence of the five studying Hermine.
It was a bumpy ride and zero visibility, then the scene changed and the Hurricane Hunters were in the 40-mile eye.
"The eye is usually the prettiest part of the storm and it's a nice little respite from the flying to get there," Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kerns said.
The Hunters crossed through the eye three times and through multiple rain bands to gather the data.