Flying Into Hurricane Irma's Eye Looks As Scary As You Think It Would
Dramatic new footage shows what it’s like to fly into the eye of one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded.
As Hurricane Irma barreled towards the Caribbean and Florida with winds of up to 185 mph on Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration flew its aircraft right through the center of the Category 5 storm.
NOAA officials tweeted an intense clip of the plane experiencing severe turbulence as it passed through the hurricane’s eyewall:
Video of a flight through the eye of #Irma on #NOAA42. Flights on both the WP-3D Orion and G-IV #NOAA49 continue. Credit Nick Underwood/NOAA pic.twitter.com/9ini4bOnYF
— NOAAHurricaneHunters (@NOAA_HurrHunter) September 5, 2017
They also shared this clip of their first flight through the storm:
Ride along with WP-3D Orion #NOAA42 for the first flight through #HurricaneIrma. Flights continue today. Credit LT Rob Mitchell/NOAA pic.twitter.com/7sjigdNiv7
— NOAAHurricaneHunters (@NOAA_HurrHunter) September 4, 2017
Irma made landfall in Barbuda at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service forecasts the storm will hit the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Wednesday, before hitting Cuba and possibly Florida by the weekend.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
