While Hurricane Milton was a fierce Category 5 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, the crew on-board a hurricane hunter aircraft that had penetrated the center of the storm released the remains of a meteorologist that had passed away earlier this year. Peter Dodge, a scientist with NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), celebrated his 44th year of federal service in February but suddenly and unexpectedly passed away just weeks later in March.
Dodge was the recipient of a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal, two NOAA Administrator Awards, and the Army Corp of Engineers Patriotic Civilian Service Award. He also received a Department of Commerce Gold Medal as part of a Hurricane Research Division group award and an Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference Public Service Award for distinguished service to the state of Mississippi and the nation during the 1998 hurricane season.
According to NOAA, before becoming a meteorologist, Dodge was a Peace Corp volunteer who taught math and science to students at a rural high school in Nepal. He began his meteorological career by working in a NOAA cooperative program at the Prototype Regional Observing and Forecasting System in Boulder, Colorado, subsequently earning a Masters in Science degree at the University of Washington. 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. Over his career, Dodge joined hundreds of hurricane hunter missions into storms, penetrating into the eye of 386 over his career.
About 24 hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall onto Siesta Key on Wednesday, the crew on-board the hurricane hunter aircraft released his ashes into the eye, paying tribute to the scientist who spent much of his life better understanding hurricanes. After releasing his remains, the hurricane hunter crew transmitted data reflecting the storm’s center location, pressure, wind speed, temperature, and other key meteorological data used to assess the intensity and structure of the cyclone. In that Vortex Message, they also included reference to Peter Dodge –and the fact that this final flight of his was his 387th penetration into the eye of a hurricane.
This is not the first time such a memorial was made on a hurricane hunter mission flight. In 2018, hurricane hunter crew members probing Hurricane Michael did the same for meteorologist Michael Black. According to NOAA, after Black passed away at age 62, his family requested that his ashes be released into a hurricane. “This is a special honor bestowed on only a few individuals who have been involved in hurricane research and/or operations,” the Hurricane Research Division (HRD) of AOLM said in an article they posted to their website.
HRD began over sixty years ago as the National Hurricane Research Project and has, under various names, continued to conduct scientific research into hurricanes and related tropical weather phenomena, using theoretical studies, computer models, and an annual field program employing NOAA hurricane research aircraft. This research has resulted in a deeper, scientific understanding and in numerous practical applications which have improved forecasts. HRD employs meteorologists, computer scientists, and other professionals, who collaborate with other governmental and academic scientists worldwide in this ongoing effort to advanced scientific knowledge and increase public safety.