The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses its "Hurricane Hunters"—two Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft—to fly into the eyes of these storms and collect data. Even so, it's jarring to watch a video from onboard one of the planes, dubbed "Miss Piggy," and watch the violence inside as severe turbulence jolts the plane as it flies into Hurricane Milton. A National Weather Service rep explains to USA Today that the aircraft are used "to locate the center of the storm and measure central pressure and surface winds around the eye." The National Hurricane Center then uses that information to monitor the hurricane's location, strength, and speed, and meteorologists use it to forecast where it will go next and how intense it's likely to get. "These flights collect critical data that helps improve forecasts and support hurricane research," NOAA says, per People.
Interestingly, the home base for the Hurricane Hunters is in Lakeland, just about 30 miles east of Tampa, and NOAA told Fox Weather the aircraft, along with a Gulfstream IV-SP also used for hurricane research, would be relocated to put them out of danger from Milton. The Lakeland Linder International Airport does not often cease operations, since that part of central Florida is rarely so close to the forecast cone of a hurricane, Fox notes. (More Hurricane Milton stories.)
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