Hurricane Melissa will go down as one of the most powerful storms in history, with record-setting numbers upon landfall both for wind intensity and central pressure.
The Category 5 hurricane is responsible for the deaths of over two dozen people so far in the Caribbean.
Melissa made landfall on Tuesday in dramatic fashion, lashing much of Jamaica with extreme wind gusts and heavy rainfall.
Hurricane Hunters fly into Hurricane Melissa
(NOAA)
Hurricane hunters with both NOAA and the Air Force Reserve have been very active over the past few days, flying directly into the eyewall of Melissa numerous times, according to officials.
Footage shared by the NOAA shows hurricane hunters flying directly into the chaos of Melissa, showing intense turbulence as the storm recorded wind speeds of up to 185 mph.
What they saw was jaw-dropping, including dramatic scenes of the “stadium effect” where the plane was encircled by the tall clouds of the eye wall, giving the appearance of being inside a stadium.
“As of today, NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters have flown nearly 80 flight hours for this storm, and have deployed more than 200 dropsondes along with 12 uncrewed aerial systems,” read a statement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
According to the NOAA, dropsondes measure vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed as they fall from the aircraft to the surface.
The data collected by these high-flying meteorological stations can help improve hurricane track and intensity forecasts by up to 20%.
Hurricane Hunters fly into Hurricane Melissa
(NOAA)
SEE IT: POWERFUL WINDS RATTLE JAMAICA LIVE CAMERA AS MONSTER CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE MELISSA APPROACHES
During their coverage in the storm’s eyewall at landfall, they experienced extreme turbulence and were forced to extract from the hurricane prematurely.
“During the event, the aircraft briefly experienced forces stronger than normal due to turbulence,” officials said in a statement. “While this does not automatically indicate damage, standard safety procedures require an inspection before returning to operations.”
