Kevin Doremus says the eyes of hurricanes, including Fiona—a storm that barrelled into Atlantic Canada last month causing widespread damage—look like open-air domes, similar to sports arenas.
Doremus, a lieutenant-commander with the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, got up close to the Category 3 hurricane over the Atlantic Ocean as it flirted with the coasts of Aruba and Puerto Rico—days before it was downgraded into a post-tropical storm and made landfall in Canada.
The pilot—known as a hurricane hunter — flies scientists through the eyes of dangerous storms to collect data, using a plane that he affectionately calls Miss Piggy. He said Fiona’s eye was presenting what’s known as the “stadium effect.”…