LAKELAND, Fla. — NOAA hurricane hunters on Friday flew into Tropical Storm Beryl.  The crew collected important data to send back to the hurricane center, which will be used to update models.

The flight crew is made up of NOAA meteorologists and scientists. They fly through the eyewall of hurricanes using one of three planes. On Friday, they took “Kermit,” a Lockheed WP-3D Orion four-engine turboprop aircraft, and even though Beryl is now a tropical storm, Kerri Englert, the flight director, says it can still be a bumpy ride.

“It can feel like a roller coaster, but that’s not necessarily guaranteed. It might be a rather intense storm, but we might not get rocked around too much,” said Englert.

While on board, the crew monitors wind, pressure change, humidity and temperature, all of which provides a detailed look at the structure of the storm, and its intensity.

“The data we’re collecting, what it does is it essentially gets assimilated into models twice a day. And so that is working not only for this hurricane but it also is allowing researchers and modelers to use that information and adjust the algorithms, adjust the models,” said Englert.

She says the data collected flying into these storms has helped tremendously in tracking accuracy and intensity, ultimately helping keep you safer.

“What we do is to best serve the people so that they get the most accurate information and that they really pay attention to those forecasts that are coming out and those warnings, because they’re put out for their safety,” she said.