Why 'Hurricane Hunters' fly into the eye of the storm
Maj. Kendall Dunn doesn't flee hurricanes — he flies directly into them, most recently when Irma, a Category 4 hurricane, hit the Caribbean and the U.S.
And it's thanks to him and other U.S. Air Force Reserve pilots that we're able to know so much about storms and predict where they're going.
Imagine going through about a 200 mph (321 km/h) car wash and then getting pelted by cinder blocks.- Maj. Kendall Dunn, Hurricane hunter
The turbulent life of the "Hurricane Hunter" involves flying straight towards the eye of the storm to collect data.
"Our major objective ... is what we call 'the fix' and that's the centre of the storm. Wind speed of zero is what we're looking for," Dunn tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
"Once we're in the eye of a storm, we continue to fly around until we find that centre of zero wind."
He explains that Irma's winds were hurricane strength even at 160 km out.
"As you get close to the eye wall, that intensity really builds within that last mile-and-a-half, two miles, and the winds at that altitude, at 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) were over 180 miles an hour (290 km an hour)."
Ever wonder what it's like to fly with the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters? Time lapse video of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HurricaneIrma?src=hash">#HurricaneIrma</a> by Maj. Kendall Dunn <a href="https://t.co/FqnNsEvIUh">pic.twitter.com/FqnNsEvIUh</a>
—@53rdWRSAs the pressure in the plane gets really intense, Dunn says, "Autopilot will kick off on you."
"[There's] not a lot of talking going on at that moment."
So what is it like to fly into the eye of the storm?
"Imagine going through about a 200 mph (321 km/h) car wash and then getting pelted by cinder blocks," Dunn says.
"A buddy of mine said it sounds like gorillas are jumping on the top of a vehicle."
The aircraft used on hurricane hunting missions, referred to as Super Hercules, is a WC-130J aircraft — "it's the Monster Truck of the airplane world."
"By the end of the season, the poor planes — they look pretty roughed up."
So what's next? Dunn says it's Jose, a storm expected to hit the Atlantic. But for now, he's happy to say he's taking a breather.
"To be honest with you, we're pretty tapped out around here right now. This is our busy time. We can fly up to three storms at once — Pacific storms and Atlantic storms."
Listen to the full conversation near the top of this web post.
This segment was produced by The Current's Donya Ziaee, Pacinthe Mattar and Manusha Janakiram.