Hurricane hunters see 'stadium effect' inside Irma's eye
The eye of dangerous Hurricane Irma looks something like a sports stadium.
The so-called "Hurricane Hunters" from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) flew through the storm and captured the "stadium effect" of the strong Category 5 storm. This makes the eye look like a sports arena dome with the smaller opening looking into the "stadium" below.
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Outside the clear center of the dome lie the storm's most fearsome sustained winds, which reached at least 185 miles per hour on Tuesday afternoon.
The images come from one of three NOAA planes flying through and around Irma for forecast information. Whereas NOAA missions are geared toward improving forecasts and conducting research, the Air Force Reserve's storied Hurricane Hunters squadron also fly into these meteorological beasts for storm monitoring and warning reasons.
The Air Force also braved the turbulence of Hurricane Irma on Tuesday, filming this impressive video of the eye.
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While the Air Force tends to get most of the glory, since they fly most of these missions, the NOAA planes are distinct for featuring some of our Muppet friends.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
