SARASOTA, Fla. — As hurricane season begins Monday, two iconic aircraft helping forecasters track and predict storms are marking a major milestone.
The NOAA Hurricane Hunter planes, nicknamed “Kermit” and “Miss Piggy,” are celebrating 50 years of flying directly into hurricanes. They help collect critical data used by meteorologists and the National Hurricane Center.
And while the missions take crews across the Gulf and Atlantic, the aircraft and flight crews are based right here in Central Florida at NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland.
During a recent stop in Sarasota, NOAA Hurricane Hunter Commander Brett Copare gave Tampa Bay 28 an up-close look aboard “Miss Piggy,” a Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft covered with decals representing decades of storms, including Hurricanes Katrina, Helene, and Milton.
Copare says flying into hurricanes can feel like “riding a roller coaster through a washing machine.”
“There’s so much rain. It’s so loud,” Copare said.
Despite the aircraft turning 50 years old, NOAA says generations of technological upgrades have transformed the planes into flying science laboratories capable of collecting data on wind, pressure, humidity, and rapid intensification from inside storms.
National Weather Service Tampa Bay meteorologist Jennifer Hubbard says the information gathered during those flights is invaluable to forecasting.
“There is nothing else like it,” Hubbard said.
NOAA crews based in Lakeland also fly post-storm imaging missions, capturing high-resolution imagery for FEMA and first responders to help identify blocked roads, damaged neighborhoods, and areas in need of urgent help after hurricanes.
For the NOAA flight teams, hurricane season means long hours, dangerous missions, and flying toward storms while others are trying to get away.
But as Copare put it, “We will show up.”
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