While thousands of people evacuated the region in order to evade the destruction of Hurricane Patricia, a giant Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters C-130 flew from Biloxi, Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean, and right into the eye of the storm. And it was all in the name of science.
Although the idea of flying straight into a hurricane might sound crazy, not to mention the strongest hurricane ever recorded, C-130s are able to withstand violent turbulence, hurricane-force winds, and lightning strikes. Most importantly, the team is performing a crucial, albeit highly risky, service. The data acquired by the team provides very important information that is key in warning those in harm’s way.
“Patricia only had about a seven-mile wide eye, and so there wasn’t a whole lot of rest once you fought to get in there, and then had to fight to get back out,” crew member Brian Lamar told WWLTV. “It was a constant kind of a rollercoaster, through a washing machine-type thing. While we were in there I know that we saw some peaks of 205 miles per hour, and the I heard one of the weather officers talk about some gusts even higher than that.”
Watch live satellite imagery of Hurricane Patricia here.
