Into the Eye of the Huricane

Neat video of the eye wall penetration of hurricane Patrica. Taken today from a WC-130 as it flies through the eye wall and into the eye. Patrica has sustained winds of 200+mph and gusts up to 250+mph making it the strongest hurricane in recorded history.





en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: Sammamishman

Neat video of the eye wall penetration of hurricane Patrica.

That is a butt puckering ride for sure.

I would love to do that.

a reply to: tsurfer2000h

Oh yeah, me too. I love extreme weather. Tornado chasing and to see the eye of a hurricane is on my bucket list for sure.

I don't give a damn what anyone says about SOCOM or SAS being the baddest of the bad. These guys clang when they walk more than anyone.

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: tsurfer2000h

Oh yeah, me too. I love extreme weather. Tornado chasing and to see the eye of a hurricane is on my bucket list for sure.

you two are braver than I. I would be worried about the wings being ripped off and crashing in the ocean in the middle of a cat 5 with nobody coming to get me.
I wonder if when they break through the eye wall it feels like the transition from a washboard dirt road to new pavement.

a reply to: Sammamishman

Mother of God!
Not in a billion years does that look like fun. The bloke driving (driving? lol) doesn't even bat an eyelid. Flying is bad enough but that....never!

a reply to: beansidhe

They do that two to three times a day per crew. Every hurricane that comes near US territory has a WC-130 flying into it up to five times a day.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Really? To test their flying skills?
There was me thinking they were some poor souls that just got caught up in it. What happens if bits of the plane snap off or is that all part of the training? Poor things, I don't envy them their job one bit.

a reply to: beansidhe

They carry probes in the back that one crew member drops out tubes through the bottom of the aircraft. They monitor pressure, and wind speed in the eye as they fall, and send it back. That's how they get all those measurements on the reports they send out about the storms.

I've seen them come back with engines shut down, engines overheating, wire radio antennas ripped off....

a reply to: Zaphod58

A shutdown engine in a hurricane makes me feel sick. I will never, ever moan about the weather again, knowing that someone has had to take their life in their hands inside a hurricane just to take measurements of air pressure etc.
You've got to admire these guys, brave doesn't quite cover it!

a reply to: Sammamishman

I have been through a couple tornadoes. The one near DeKalb IL was exciting in all the wrong ways. We were going flat out in the car (so was everyone else though) when the tornado started picking up corn in the field across the four lane. Then it pulled the passenger window out of its tracks. The people 1/4 mile behind us were less lucky.

Unless you are out with the guys in the special vehicles I would pass on the tornado chase thing on your bucket list.

That said, meteorological surveying was in the top 5 in my list of career choices in high school.

What would happen if they could like throw a bomb in the eye , like hydrogen , could such a hurricane then collapse ?

a reply to: 0bserver1

You get a Saturday night SyFy channel movie.

Radioactive Hurricane vs Sharknado

a reply to: 0bserver1

a radioactive class five hurricane perhaps

a reply to: Zaphod58

I remember having beers with one of my dads colleagues who use to crew one of these birds...

Somwho the topic of turbulence came up (they were talking about being stationed in alaska and flying out there or something) and the guy who had flown through all these hurricanes could probably win a record for the biggest smirk I've ever seen lol

I winder if flying in like that disrupts the hurricane somehow.... As you break the wall into the eye it might make things slow down a bit... Or perhaps not...

a reply to: nonjudgementalist

It's such a tiny impact compared to the amount of energy in that storm that it's not even funny.

a reply to: Sammamishman

You sure that's a WC-130? I just watched the whole thing again. Methinks someone needs glasses.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Maybe on the big ones... But on smaller ones, like a category 3 for instance. It might have an impact...

I'm jealous. I've flown in aircraft that have taken off and flown through thunderstorms with thick black clouds. But this has to be the ultimate challenge. To think that a category 5 hurricane has 250 mph winds, which are the equivalent to the blast wave of a megatonne nuclear explosion.