Meet the Hurricane Hunters - the pilots and scientists who fly into hurricanes like Dorian to gather data for forecasters

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• Much of the data that helps forecasters predict the path, strength, and timing of tropical storms and hurricanes come from a small fleet of airplanes that fly around, through, and above the storms.
• The Hurricane Hunters - a team within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sometimes assisted by a team from the US Air Force Reserves - fly right into the storms, slicing, diving, and weaving through "howling winds, blinding rain and violent updrafts and downdrafts" to gather information.
• The grueling missions can take 8-10 hours, but the forecasts they've enabled have saved lives, helping people evacuate or seek shelter sooner.
• Read on to learn more about the Hurricane Hunters and their incredible planes.
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Meteorologists announced on Thursday that Hurricane Dorian was likely to strengthen to a Category 4 storm by the time it makes landfall along the Florida coast early Monday morning.

As the storm continued to churn through the Caribbean on Thursday, where it remained a Category 1 storm for the time being, Floridians began to prepare for what was predicted to be one of the more severe hurricanes to hit the state in recent years. 

The National Hurricane Center warned that Dorian's heavy rains could cause "life-threatening flash floods," power outages, and winds of more than 130 miles per hour.

Much of the information and knowledge that helps forecasters guess the path, strength, and timing of the storm comes from a small fleet of airplanes - operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the US Air Force Reserves - that flies directly into the heart of the most severe storms to gather accurate data on its conditions.

These elite "Hurricane Hunters" can spend 8-10 hours at a time gathering data, which contributes to life-saving forecasts that help those in harm's way evacuate or seek shelter while skies are still clear and sunny.

Scroll down to learn more about the Hurricane Hunters.