A hurricane hunter explains what it’s like to fly through the eye of the storm
Hurricane hunter Ian Sears often jokes that the most dangerous part of his day is not flying through the eye of a hurricane, it’s driving to the runway and climbing a steep ladder to get on board the plane.
Sears is a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He flies on sturdy planes through some of the planet’s strongest storms to gather precious data that will help forecasters determine where a hurricane is heading and how powerful it’ll be when it gets there.
If people in Texas had a few days to prepare before Hurricane Harvey came barreling down with unprecedented amounts of rain last month, it’s because of the work that Sears does. NOAA has two special airplanes for the job. One is the P-3,…
