Watch: Drone video from inside Hurricane Helene

Drone video shows ferocious ocean inside Hurricane Helene

Saildrone released video taken by one of its unmanned vehicles that was inside Hurricane Helene on Thursday as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida.

A drone intentionally steered into Hurricane Helene in the eastern Gulf of Mexico took video of the strengthening cyclone in the hours before its was set to make landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Saildrone Inc., a California-based maritime data company, said the video was taken less than 120 miles from the center of Helene when it was a Category 2 hurricane.

At the time, the conditions were about around what a tropical storm usually produces – winds were just over 40 mph, but seas were reported to be about 19 feet as the waves propagated from the center of the hurricane.

The company said it ventured deeper into the hurricane and will release the video and data over the coming days as the hurricane moves inland.

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Drones have been in 3 other hurricanes this season

Hurricane Helene was not the first intercept of the season, with the company previously announcing ventures into hurricanes Beryl, Debby and Ernesto.

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Saildrone captures stunning images inside Hurricane Ernesto

File video: Saildrones have been used to gather data from inside ocean storms. Saildrone Explorer SD 1045, which passed through Hurricane Ernesto, braved 30-foot waves and strong winds to collect data. Brian Connon, vice president of Saildrone's Ocean Mapping, is joining FOX Weather to provide more information about the work being done by these unmanned vehicles.

A Saildrone in Hurricane Beryl reported encountering seas of 25 feet and winds greater than 60 mph while it traveled through the Caribbean.

The first major hurricane that a Saildrone ever passed through was Hurricane Sam back in 2021. The cyclone formed off the coast of Africa and, during its closest pass to Bermuda, was intercepted by a vehicle while it became a monster Category 4 hurricane. At the time, the company reported that seas were 50 feet and wind gusts were over 120 mph.

The Guinness World Records later certified that the drone documented the highest wind speed ever recorded by an uncrewed surface vehicle at 126.4 mph.

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How saildrones sail into the eye of hurricanes to collect critical data

NOAA Saildrone Science Lead Greg Foltz explains how these uncrewed drones sail into the heart of nature's fury and collect vital real-time data to help forecasters and computers better calculate a hurricane's ultimate plans. 

The giant floating weather stations are remotely controlled from the U.S. mainland and are designed to withstand the strongest of storms.

Data collected during cyclone missions aims to help forecasters make more accurate predictions, especially concerning intensity fluctuations, which forecasters admit has a way to go for improvements.

NOAA has previously asserted that, over the past few decades, the accuracy of hurricane track forecasts has improved more than intensity forecasts, possibly due to warming oceans and subtle ocean currents. 

Saildrone has deployed at least a dozen drones across six operational areas in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.