There are plenty of ways to appreciate the power of a Category 5 hurricane. Flying straight into one might be the most terrifying.
Footage from NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters shows a WP-3D aircraft punching through Hurricane Polo’s violent eyewall before emerging into the surreal calm of the storm’s eye.
One clip looks upward at blue sky surrounded by towering white clouds; another, filmed from inside the cockpit, captures the aircraft rattling and bouncing as the crew approaches the opening. It looks considerably less like flying and more like riding turbulence inside a washing machine.
See the footage, linked here, and below.
The flights helped meteorologists measure what became a historic hurricane. Polo peaked around 180 mph with a central pressure of 892 millibars, making it the second-most intense eastern Pacific hurricane on record by pressure and among the strongest by sustained winds.
NASA scientist Gary Partyka called Polo’s strengthening “explosively rapid intensification,” adding: “This was RAPID, rapid intensification.” The National Hurricane Center called the 104-mph increase in winds over 24 hours “truly remarkable.”
Related: Hurricane Polo Is So Powerful People Are Asking About ‘Category 6’ (Video)
Polo has weakened considerably since that peak. As of early Sunday, the NHC had the Category 3 storm about 285 miles west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, carrying 120-mph winds while moving north-northwest at 10 mph. Forecasters expect Polo to turn northeast and strike Baja California Sur Monday as a hurricane.
That remains dangerous. The NHC warns of 4 to 8 inches of rain, locally 10 inches, life-threatening flooding and mudslides, storm surge and destructive waves across Baja
Then some of Polo’s energy reaches Southern California.
The National Weather Service expects impacts to peak Monday and Tuesday, including 4-to-7-foot surf along Los Angeles and Ventura counties, strong rip currents, erosion and possible coastal flooding coinciding with high tides. Meteorologist Lisa Phillips warned that “ocean water is going to creep up higher than normal.”
From 180-mph winds to a cockpit view inside the eye, Polo has already earned its place in the record books.
Related: Watch: Hurricane Polo Sends Gigantic Waves to Cabo San Lucas Arch
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