Right now at 8pm monday Felix is a cat. 4 storm ready to strike Nicaragua. Last night at 7pm, a dropsonde was released at 10,000'. Dropsondes are weather instruments that have a small parachute attached. They float to the ground taking weather readings as they fall. The dropsonde released in the eyewall almost made a complete circle through the hurricane before it hit the ocean! Here's part of the NHC bulletin...
HURRICANE FELIX SPECIAL DISCUSSION NUMBER 10
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL062007
800 PM EDT SUN SEP 02 2007
REPORTS FROM A NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT FELIX HAS INTENSIFIED AND IS NOW A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE... A DROPSONDE RELEASED IN THE SOUTHWEST QUADRANT LANDED IN THE NORTHEAST QUADRANT...AND THIS DROP YIELDED A SURFACE ESTIMATE OF 139 KT BASED ON THE LOWEST 150 M LAYER AVERAGE... BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME TURBULENCE AND GROUPEL THAT THE AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED...THE MISSION IS BEING ABORTED AND THE AIRCRAFT IS RETURNING TO ST. CROIX.
As the plane, a C130, punched through the eyewall, an updraft jolted the plane skyward, then a downdraft hit seconds later. The result was a 4G ride, in a plane designed for only 6g's. The mission was aborted at this point, and the plane returned home. No damage was reported!