Hurricane Milton and the Saildrone View
The recent hurricane activity in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico has displaced and distressed thousands of people. Many have even lost their lives. Unfortunately, the official hurricane season is with us for another six weeks or so, and while there are no active hurricanes for the moment, we’re still on alert. We imagine everyone has seen photos and footage of the carnage left in the wake of hurricanes Milton and Helene; we won’t add to that media storm. However, we do want to share the story about the Bay Area company, Saildrone, and the footage of one of its uncrewed vessels in the ocean prior to Milton’s making landfall in Florida.
Saildrone has deployed 50 or so uncrewed surface vessels to oceans around the world. Another 12 drones are based in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to monitor weather systems and hurricane conditions. SD-1083 was in the Gulf of Mexico on October 9 and captured the footage below of surface conditions during Hurricane Milton’s progress toward Florida.
According to NOAA Atlantic Lab, the Saildrone vessel reported a maximum wave height of 28.12 feet (8.57m), and wind gusts up to 75.95 mph (66 kts), 40 miles from the center of the storm.
Saildrones are equipped to enter the weather systems and collect date including temperature, pressure, wind speed, and wave height. These observations are then used to forecast expected conditions when the storm makes landfall.
The current data on hurricanes is both interesting and a little frightening. And while Saildrone’s contribution won’t stop the hurricanes, it can help us be better informed and forewarned about approaching weather systems. Hopefully, in the long run, this will also help us reconsider how our actions affect the planet, and ultimately ourselves.
For anyone wanting to know more about hurricanes, we found NOAA’s FAQ page quite interesting and helpful.