VIDEO: Hurricane hunters take turbulent trip through Milton

TAMPA, Fla. ( WFLA ) — Researchers on a hurricane hunter aircraft had a bumpy ride as they flew into Hurricane Milton on Tuesday.

Footage captured by Nick Underwood, an engineer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center, and shared by Storyful, shows the crew experiencing violent turbulence during their flight aboard the aircraft known as Miss Piggy.

The NOAA Aircraft Operations Center said the trip was made to collect data to improve forecasts and support hurricane research.

“All that turbulence and we still get the dropsonde out to collect data,” said Underwood in an X post. A drop-sonde is a weather device that’s dropped from the sky down to Earth so it can collect data on the way. “This is the job. Important work.”

As of Tuesday evening, Hurricane Milton was a Category 5 hurricane moving toward Florida.

“Today is the last full day for Florida residents to get their families and homes ready and evacuate if told to do so,” the National Hurricane Center said.

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