Braving the Storm: Embry-Riddle Professor Flies Into Hurricane Milton to Conduct Research

As Florida residents braced for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, Embry-Riddle meteorology researcher Dr. Josh Wadler was flying directly into the massive and powerful storm aboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Hunter aircraft.

“When you’re researching hurricanes, it’s just part of the job this time of year,” said Wadler, an assistant professor in the College of Aviation.

Wadler’s first flight into Milton took place on the morning of October 8, when the hurricane was rated Category 4. A video taken aboard the Lockheed WP-3D Orion plane shows a scene outside the window, where the plane's propellers seem to push through thick clouds and fog. Then the plane starts to shake violently. The crew members struggle to stay in their seats as personal belongings scatter and equipment tumbles off shelves.

Wadler said the flight was “pretty bumpy,” but downplayed its drama. “In a strong storm, it’s pretty predictable when you’re going to hit turbulence,” he said. “You know where it is. It can be worse with weaker storms. The storms are less organized, and the turbulence is unpredictable.”

Dr. Josh Wadler (bottom) shows off an Embry-Riddle decal in the Lockheed WP-3D Orion plane used by NOAA to fly through hurricanes. Next to him (left) is NOAA Flight Director Sofia de Solo, an Embry-Riddle alumna, and undergraduate Christopher DeLoach (back).

During Wadler’s second flight into Milton, then a Category 5 on October 9, he and his fellow crew members saw the southern wall of the storm’s eye, or eyewall, disintegrating at about 7 a.m.

“We were very happy on the mission when the eyewall was starting to break down, because that indicated that the storm was starting to weaken,” he said. “It was very welcome to see it breaking down, given its imminent landfall.”

The airborne researchers were also among the first to recognize that the storm was shifting south, indicating that less water would be pushed into Tampa Bay than had been previously forecast.

Such information is crucial to the agencies tracking the storm, said Wadler.

“It’s why the aircraft are there,” he said. “The National Hurricane Center needs this information as soon as possible so they can make decisions and help local leaders to do so as well.”

Much of what is observed from a Hurricane Hunter aircraft is not visible from a satellite, Wadler added.

Wadler’s work aboard the aircraft — a collaboration between NOAA and Embry-Riddle — involves dropping uncrewed aerial systems, or drones, from the plane to take measurements close to the ocean's surface, where it would be unsafe for a crewed plane to fly. During Milton, one of the drones measured winds at 205 knots, or 235 miles per hour, at 400 meters of altitude.

“Those are numbers that you wouldn’t even think were possible to measure,” Wadler said.

While taking those measurements, he said, the three-pound drone was subjected to updrafts and downdrafts with speeds of 40 meters per second.

“It was insane what was happening to that drone,” he said.

Nonetheless, the drone and the other 18 that were released this year have performed well, transmitting measurements to the National Hurricane Center in real time and surviving the violent conditions for up to 90 minutes before plunging into the sea, Wadler said.

The long-term goal of the drone program is to provide measurements that will help researchers understand the physics of what makes hurricanes intensify and improve forecasting, but Wadler said the drones are still in the testing stage and that incorporating new data into forecasting models takes years.

“The goal is to get these drones so that they can fly regularly,” he said. “Every year, we’re making improvements, and eventually, they’ll be a regular part of the operation.”

In the meantime, Wadler said he can’t wait to look at the data that was collected on the two recent flights with his student researchers, undergraduates Christopher DeLoach and Danica Marr.

“We get all this data during the season, and then in the off-season, we’ve got to look at it and see what we learn from it,” he said. “You take it solemnly, knowing all the damage the storm has caused for a lot of people — yet as a scientist, it’s always exciting to learn about these things.”

Posted In: Applied Science | Uncrewed Systems