WITNESS AMAZING VIDEO FROM INSIDE THE EYE OF HURRICANE ERIN
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also referred to as the “Hurricane Hunters,” prepared to depart from their advance station in St. Croix on August 15, 2025. Their mission? Fly their aircraft straight into Hurricane Erin, all in an effort to discover why it intensified at such a historic rate—and in such a short time.
Formed on August 11, Erin is the fifth storm of the 2025 Atlantic season, and by August 15, it had reached hurricane status during its approach toward the Lesser Antilles. It had already intensified into a Category 5 hurricane the following day, with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. Only satellite footage taken by NASA's GOES-19 weather satellite, which was first launched in June 2024, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has confirmed these alarming numbers. The dramatic spiral Erin has become, overtaken by frequent lightning strikes, strong winds, and boiling clouds, is demonstrated in one GOES-19 video in particular. There is a churning black hole at the core of the storm.
As if this weren't scary enough, the Hurricane Hunters have now made their most recent excursion video public. The team's most notable accomplishment was capturing the stunning "stadium effect," which gets its name from the storm's tall cloud walls that enclose the viewer like stadium seats. A serene portion of the blue sky may be seen beyond the whirling clouds; this sharp contrast only heightens Erin's wrath. The Hurricane Hunters eventually drive their planes farther into the wall, where the hurricane is strongest. This is when the footage turns chaotic, with the camera being battered by so much wind and rain that it obscures our view of the storm.
Hurricane Erin ultimately moved away from the East Coast without making landfall. But the flight was still time very well spent. “These missions provide critical data to the [National Hurricane Centre],” the Hurricane Hunters explain, “to improve forecasts, helping keep communities safe before the storm makes landfall.”