Rare footage from inside the eye of a hurricaine has been captured.
Erin has developed into rare Category 5 and it is now churning through the Atlantic Ocean north of the Caribbean.
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known colloquially as Hurricane Hunters, flew into Erin’s eye on Thursday and Friday to gather weather data on the upcoming storm.
“Last night, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flew into the eye of Hurricane Erin – and captured the breathtaking stadium effect,” the AF Reserve Hurricane Hunters shared on Instagram.
“These missions provide critical data to the National Hurricane Center to improve forecasts, helping keep communities safe before the storm makes landfall.”
The NOAA Aircraft Ops Centre also flew through Hurriance Erin as it became a category 5 storm Saturday.
The hurricane is now one of the fastest rapidly intensifying storms in the Atlantic Ocean’s history.
Erin went from a Category 1 hurricane with 120km/h winds at 11am local time Friday to a Category 5 with near 257km/h winds just over 24 hours later.
This puts Erin in the history books as one of the fastest-strengthening Atlantic hurricanes on record, and potentially the fastest intensification rate for any storm earlier than September 1.
Rapid intensification is when a hurricane gains at least 56km/h of wind speed in at least 24 hours.
However, it is not expected to hit land.
