NOAA Hurricane Hunters Fly Into Eye of Cat 5 Hurricane Irma

Inside the eye of Hurricane Irma, September 5, 2017. Credit: NOAA

Some amazing footage from inside the eye of Hurricane Irma filmed aboard NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft. The videos were captured Tuesday morning during a flight through Irma’s eye after the storm had reached Cat 5 strength with 185 mph winds.

In the video below you can see how eerily-calm it is within the well-defined the eye walls of what has been called the most powerful Atlantic Ocean storm on record. 

Video from yesterday’s flight in CAT 5 #Irma on #NOAA42. https://t.co/iofV4p56DE has the latest advisories. Credit Rob Mitchell/NOAA pic.twitter.com/IygcNgIbJN

— NOAAHurricaneHunters (@NOAA_HurrHunter) September 6, 2017

This next video is from Tuesday and shows the aircraft as it approaches the eye, eventually breaking through towards the end of the video. It is quite the contrast.

Video of a flight through the eye of #Irma on #NOAA42. Flights on both the WP-3D Orion and G-IV #NOAA49 continue. Credit Nick Underwood/NOAA pic.twitter.com/9ini4bOnYF

— NOAAHurricaneHunters (@NOAA_HurrHunter) September 5, 2017

Now here are some photos from the flight:

Inside the eye of #Irma on WP-3D Orion #NOAA42. This is referred to as the “stadium effect” https://t.co/iofV4p56DE Credit CDR Kibbey/NOAA. pic.twitter.com/dlUta2IbDL

— NOAAHurricaneHunters (@NOAA_HurrHunter) September 5, 2017

And in case you were wondering what Hurricane Irma looked like from above, here is some satellite imagery from Tuesday:

Get a good look at Hurricane #Irma‘s eye with this visible imagery from #GOES16! For the latest info on Irma, go to https://t.co/cSGOfrM0lG pic.twitter.com/q4Q5UtPlIP

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) September 5, 2017

You can view gCaptain’s full Hurricane Irma coverage HERE.