Video shows Hurricane Hunters fly through eye of Hurricane Franklin

Video taken during a Hurricane Hunters’ flight shows the swirling eye of Hurricane Franklin currently strengthening in the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Hurricane Hunters flew into the eye of Franklin on Saturday to gather more data about the storm, which is expected to continue to strengthen into the first major hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season.

The Hurricane Hunters are part of the Air Force Reserve unit known as the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron based out of Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi.

The turboprop airplanes used to fly through tropical systems help provide first-hand data to improve the National Hurricane Center forecasts.

The Hurricane Hunters made multiple flights into Franklin throughout the weekend. Video taken on Friday when Franklin was still a tropical storm shows the intensity of the lightning and rain from the topical system.  

On its current path, Franklin is expected to rapidly intensify over the warm waters between the East Coast and Bermuda.

Forecasters say Franklin could strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane by Monday and will pass several hundred miles off the mid-Atlantic coast.

While Franklin isn’t expected to come near the coastal U.S., the National Hurricane Center is also tracking Tropical Storm Idalia, making its way toward Florida’s Gulf Coast.