Slicing through the eyewall of a Cat 2/3 hurricane, buffeted by howling winds, blinding rain and violent updrafts and downdrafts before entering the relative calm of the storm’s eye, NOAA’s Lockheed WP-3D Orion four-engine turboprop aircraft, affectionately nicknamed “Kermit” (N42RF) probe every wind and pressure change, repeating the often grueling experience again and again during the course of an 8 hour mission.
On September 5, 2019 ……. Pre-Flight started at 2 pm talking about the mission and its goals.
At 3 pm the commander started his safety check and finished the Pre-Flight onboard “Kermit”.
Approximately 3:50 pm Hurricane Hunter Plane “Kermit” left Lakeland-Linder Airport with a dedicated crew and scientists on its last visit (#42) to Hurricane Dorian, near North Carolina.
“Kermit” had a special passenger a photojournalist from the Lakeland Gazette onboard to tell the story in photos. To see all the photos and video click here.
Onboard Kermit 
Flying to Dorian
Mission Pictures …..
Eye Wall 
Rough Seas 
Through the cockpit
The history of Dorian — Aug 26, 2019, NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed over Tropical Storm Dorian as it triggered warnings and watches for the islands of the Eastern Caribbean Sea.
By August 27, Dorian moved across St. Lucia and into the eastern Caribbean Sea bringing tropical-storm-force winds with it. The National Hurricane Center or NHC said the Caribbean composite radar data show that Dorian remains a very compact system and that it still lacks a well-defined inner core.
NHC posted many watches and warnings on Aug. 27. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic from Isla Saona to Samana. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Martinique, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Puerto Rico. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Dominica, Grenada and its dependencies, Saba and St. Eustatius, the Dominican Republic from Isla Saona to Punta Palenque, and the Dominican Republic from Samana to Puerto Plata.
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019, the National Hurricane Center or NHC noted that a Hurricane Watch is in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the British Virgin Islands. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Dominican Republic from Isla Saona to Samana.
Infrared Temperatures Indicate Strong Storms
Cloud top temperatures provide information to forecasters about where the strongest storms are located within a tropical cyclone. The stronger the storms, the higher they extend into the troposphere, and the colder the cloud top temperatures. NASA’s Aqua satellite analyzed Tropical Storm Dorian’s cloud tops to get that information. AIRS found that some areas in Dorian were being affected by dry air, which was sapping the development of thunderstorms.
On Aug. 29 at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), NOAA’s NHC said the center of Hurricane Dorian was located near latitude 20.5 degrees north and longitude 66.6 degrees west. That puts Dorian’s center about 150 miles (240 km) north-northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico and about 425 miles (685 km) east-southeast of the southeastern Bahamas.
Dorian is moving toward the northwest near 13 mph (20 kph), and this general motion is expected to continue through Friday. A west-northwestward motion is forecast to begin Friday night and continue into the weekend.
Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph (140 kph) with higher gusts. Strengthening is forecast during the next few days, and Dorian is expected to become a major hurricane on Friday. The minimum central pressure based on earlier Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter data is 991 Mb (29.27 inches).
NHC said, “On this track, Dorian should move over the Atlantic well east of the southeastern and central Bahamas today and on Friday, and approach the northwestern Bahamas on Saturday.”
Dorian is expected to strengthen during the next few days and become a major hurricane later today (Aug. 30). Dorian is likely to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane while it moves near the northwestern Bahamas and approaches the Florida peninsula through the weekend.
Aug 31 Roughly 50 minutes later at 2:48 am EDT (0648 UTC), NOAA-20 satellite flew over Dorian close to top-down. The infrared imagery continues to show convection gravity waves consistent with an intense storm. The successive passes showed the rotation of the storm at high resolution.
NHC on Sept 1 at 8:00 am EDT advisory reports that Hurricane Dorian has reached Category 5 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind scale. Data from a Hurricane Hunter plane which just penetrated the eye of Dorian indicate that the maximum sustained winds have increased to near 160 mph (260 km/h) with higher gusts. Devastating hurricane conditions are expected in the Abacos Islands very soon and these conditions will spread across Grand Bahama Island later today.
Later than morning data from a Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that Dorian has continued to intensify, and now has maximum sustained winds near 175 mph (280 km/h) and wind gusts over 200 mph. A storm surge of 15 to 20 feet above normal tides with higher destructive waves. There is a minimum central pressure of 922 Mb (27.23 inches).
The eyewall of catastrophic Hurricane Dorian is currently reaching the Abaco Islands. This is a life-threatening situation. Residents, there should take immediate shelter. The NHC urges: “Do not venture into the eye if it passes over your location. These hazards will cause extreme destruction in the affected areas. and will continue for several hours.”
September 2, 2019, 4 pm the Dangerous Hurricane Dorian has weakened slightly and is now a Category 4 storm as it continues to spin over the Bahamas. Dorian has slowed to a crawl in terms of speed of movement only moving at west-northwest at about 1 mph (2 km/h). This means that the Bahamas will continue to get lashed by this monstrous storm and the amount of rainfall totals for the area continue to grow.
In the early hours of Tuesday, September 3, Hurricane Dorian had been stationary over the island of Grand Bahama for 18 hours, most of the time as a category 5 hurricane. Storm-total rain accumulation over parts of Grand Bahama and Abaco Islands have exceeded 24 inches according to NASA satellite-based estimates.
“By Wednesday morning, September 4, the rain accumulation from Hurricane Dorian exceeded 36 inches in an area that included parts of Grand Bahama Island and Abaco Island,” said Owen Kelley, a researcher at NASA Goddard. “By that time, the Dorian’s center was north of the Bahamas and was moving further north, approximately parallel to Florida’s east coast.”
September 5 during little to Florida Hurricane Dorian continues to generate tremendous amounts of rainfall, and has leftover three feet of rain in some areas of the Bahamas and is now lashing the Carolinas.
By Thursday morning, September 5, Hurricane Dorian had dumped heavy rain on coastal South Carolina. An even greater accumulation of over 10 inches was occurring offshore along the path of Dorian’s inner core. Plus, inland tornadoes. In part because of Hurricane Dorian’s forward motion during the past two days, the recent rainfall totals have remained below the 36-inch accumulation observed when Dorian was stalled over the Bahamas.
Bahamas 
Bahamas
Hurricane Dorian is still producing enormous rainfall totals:
South Carolina…Additional amounts up to a half-inch, isolated storm totals of 12 inches.
Eastern North Carolina…Additional 3 to 8 inches, isolated storm totals of 15 inches.
Far southeast Virginia…3 to 8 inches.
Extreme Southeastern New England…2 to 4 inches.
Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for…
* Prince Edward Island
* The Magdalen Islands
* Fundy National Park to Shediac.
* Francois to Boat Harbour.
And a Hurricane Watch is in effect for… Nova Scotia
Kermit arrived back to Lakeland-Linder at 10:57 pm Sept 5, 2019, safe to fly again.
By the posting of this story Dorian’s life is not quite over…. Dorian is now a Cat 1 still has howling winds, blinding rain.
The Bahamas is a catastrophic mess and the eastern coastline has seen better days.
But thanks to NOAA and NOAA Corps for taking the risks and saving property and lives.
Editorial note: Thank you to NOAA and it’s staff for allowing the Lakeland Gazette to send a photojournalist onboard Kermit.