Saildrone Inc. said its uncrewed surface vehicle captured waves heights of 25 feet south of Puerto Rico. Hurricane Beryl was a Category 5, at the time, the strongest any hurricane had been in June.
A drone steered into the core of Hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean captured video of the rare Category 5 cyclone, which showed scenes similar to those only seen in movies.
On Tuesday, operators of the uncrewed surface vehicle said it encountered seas of 25 feet and winds greater than 60 mph while south of Puerto Rico.
“Saildrone and NOAA kicked off the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Mission early this year, with Saildrone Explorer SD-1041 intercepting the edge of Hurricane Beryl about 100 nm south of Puerto Rico. As it approached the northern edge of the then Category 5 hurricane, SD-1041 experienced increased windspeeds and significant wave height, along with a decrease in pressure and several rapid decreases in air temperature from associated rain bands,” the company said.
The first major hurricane a Saildrone ever passed through was Hurricane Sam in 2021. The Category 4 hurricane formed off the coast of Africa and during its closest pass with Bermuda was intercepted by a drone.
At the time, Saildrone Inc. said its machine battled 50-foot waves and winds of over 120 mph.
The Guinness Book of World Records later certified that the drone documented the highest wind speed ever recorded by an uncrewed surface vehicle at 126.4 mph.
A Saildrone inside Hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean.
(NOAA)
SAILDRONE DEPLOYING RECORD 12 DRONES TO HUNT HURRICANES IN ATLANTIC, GULF OF MEXICO
The automated floating weather stations are remote-controlled and built to withstand the worst impacts from Mother Nature.
The bright orange drones are about 23 feet high and are controlled remotely via satellites.
Data collected during storms is intended to assist forecasters in making more accurate predictions, particularly regarding intensity.
NOAA says during the past decade, the accuracy of hurricane tracks has outpaced those of the strength of storms, which could be related to warming oceans.
The company previously stated it had a dozen drones at the ready in 2023 to survey hurricanes in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
Beryl was the easternmost hurricane to form in the Atlantic basin in June and the earliest Category 5 on record.
The hurricane made landfall in Carriacou, Grenada, on July 1 as a powerful Category 4 cyclone.
Authorities said they had yet to survey the hardest impacted islands in the Caribbean but knew of thousands of damaged homes and a death toll that had reached at least six in the hours after the disaster.
Additional impacts were expected in Jamaica and Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula before the cyclone rains itself out after impacting the western Gulf of Mexico.
Hurricane Beryl broken records
(FOX Weather)