Honored scientist had his ashes dropped into the eye of Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton has reached landfall in Florida and as resident protect their homes as much as they can one meteorologist was honored for his contributions to the field by having his ashes poured into the eye of the monsterous Milton.

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Peter Dodge

That lucky scientist was Peter Dodge, a radar scientist and hurricane hunter who worked with the National Hurricane Center and Aircraft Operations Center and an avid participant of hurricane aircraft missions where he served as an onboard radar scientist. Dodge passed away on March 3, 2023, and during a hurricane reconnaissance flight of Hurricane Milton, Dodge was dropped into the eye of the historic Category 5 hurricane, as reflected by the Vortex Data Message, which is a log of in-flight observations made by hurricane reconnaissance aircraft.

The Vortex Data Message captures important details about the hurricane, such as its location, wind speed, pressure, storm's center location, intensity, and other meteorological data. The below image shows the Vortex Data Message, and at the bottom reads a tribute to Dodge, "PETER DODGE HX SCI (1950-2023) 387TH PENNY." The tribute message was translated by Ars Technica, who wrote "HX SCI" means "hurricane scientist," and "387TH PENNY" refers to the term "penny," which means "hurricane penetration," or the act of entering a hurricane during a hurricane reconnaissance mission.

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"During hurricane seasons, Peter participated in hurricane aircraft missions, serving as the onboard radar scientist and conducting radar analyses, later becoming an expert in radar data processing," wrote the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)