Most pilots are trained to avoid extreme weather. But when a hurricane forms over the ocean, an elite crew of pilots, engineers, and meteorologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration flies right into the heart of the storm.
Zawislak: "So what will probably seem like the bumpiest commercial flight you've ever been on for us may be just a normal day at the office."
Jon Zawislak is flight director at NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center, which leads the Hurricane Hunters.
Starting several days before a hurricane makes landfall, the team runs carefully planned missions into the storm. They fly on rugged, turboprop aircraft equipped with Doppler radar systems and other instruments that measure wind speed, humidity, air pressure, and more.
Zawislak: "We're in the actual storm, the turbulence, the rainfall, the heavy winds and rain, to really get those really, really high-resolution measurements that we need to understand the storm."
The information they gather is then used to improve forecasts and identify vulnerable communities so emergency managers can help the public prepare.
Zawislak: "We fly for the public. We fly to save lives. We fly to protect property."
So as climate change causes more extreme weather, the Hurricane Hunters are collecting important data that can help keep people safe.