Breathtaking video from the eye of fearsome Hurricane Melissa emerged from a Hurricane Hunter flight with the U.S. Air Force Reserve, clearly showing the inner workings that turned it into one of the most powerful storms in the history of the Atlantic hurricane basin.
In the videos taken on Monday, Oct. 27, clusters of clouds swirl around the hurricane's "eye." At times, the clouds show bright white, highlighted by the sun. The relatively calm "eye" gives a hurricane its structure and intensity. A storm's most intense winds reside in a ring just around that center known as the eyewall.
In many storms, hurricane hunters have referred to the inside view of the eye surrounding their aircraft as a "stadium effect." But during a ride on a flight into the eye on the morning of Oct. 27, hurricane scientist Andy Hazelton said Melissa's "eye," appeared more cylindrical than the "classic stadium effect," forcing him to tilt his camera to try to capture the bright blue patch of sky at the top of the column.
VIDEO: Breathtaking view of the eye of Hurricane Melissa from 'Hurricane Hunters' flight
It was a "wild ride," and his first in a Category 5 hurricane, Hazelton wrote in an X post of his Monday morning flight. Hazelton, an associate scientist at the University of Miami, said it was "definitely the most turbulent I've ever experienced."
