NOAA's WP-3D Orion planes, nicknamed Kermit and Miss Piggy, fly into hurricanes to gather critical data for forecasting.

Hurricane Erick strengthened rapidly into a major Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday as it churned toward Mexico's southern ...

A Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale has maximum sustained winds between 181 and 210 kph (112-130 mph) and is considered extremely dangerous and capable of causing devastating damage.

People are seen at a beach, as hurricane Erick strengthens off Mexico's Pacific Coast, in Acapulco, Guerrero state, Mexico, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero By Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Diego Oré ...

"A hurricane hunter aircraft reports that Erick is a major hurricane," the NHC said in its latest update at 6 p.m. CST (2300 GMT). Erick will be the first hurricane to make landfall in Mexico this ...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's WP-3D Orion hurricane hunter aircraft stands on the tarmac at Washington National Airport, Arlington, Va., Tuesday, May 3, 2022.

In 1996 he flew into the eye of a 115 mph hurricane named Bertha aboard the famed Hurricane hunter aircraft. In 2004 he boarded NOAA's hurricane hunter aircraft, the P3 Orion, and flew into an ...