Award-winning scientist Peter Dodge has flown right in front of hurricanes hundreds of times, making almost 400 flights. hurricane milton As a lasting tribute to the longtime National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radar expert and researcher, his ashes were thrown into the storm to help create another piece.
“It’s very emotional,” Dodge’s sister, Sherry Dodge, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. “We knew it was a goal of NOAA to make that happen.”
The ash was dumped into the eye of the hurricane Tuesday night, less than 24 hours before Milton made landfall on Siesta Key near Sarasota, Florida. The inflight log, which recorded information such as location and wind speed, ended with a reference to Dodge’s 387th and final flight.
“He loves that aspect of his job,” Sherry Dodge said. “It’s a bittersweet story. On the one hand, there’s a hurricane coming, and on the other hand, that’s the last thing people want. But on the other hand, I really wanted this to happen.”
Sim Aberson/NOAA via AP
Dodge died in March 2023 at age 72 from complications from a fall and stroke, his sister said.
The Miami resident served 44 years in federal service. Among his awards were several for technology used to study Hurricane Katrina’s destructive winds in 2005.
He was also part of the crew that flew a reconnaissance flight into Hurricane Hugo in 1989, during which severe turbulence caused one of the four engines to catch fire.
“They were almost never out of sight,” Sherry Dodge said.
Items on the plane were torn up and thrown onto the plane. After jettisoning extra fuel and some heavy equipment to allow the flight to climb further, inspection found no major damage to the plane and the flight continued. The plane ultimately made it out of the storm without any injuries to the crew, according to NOAA.
A degenerative eye disease ultimately prevented Dodge from making any further reconnaissance flights.
Sherry Dodge said NOAA has been keeping her informed about when her brother’s final mission will take place, and she has passed that information on to relatives.
“There were times when it seemed like all the pieces were falling into place, but it had to be the right combination, the survey flight. It all had to come together.” she said. “It finally happened on the 8th. I wasn’t sure until they sent me the official printout showing exactly where it was in my eye.”
Dodge had advanced expertise in radar technology with a strong interest in tropical cyclones, according to a March 2023 newsletter from NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory announcing his death.
The newsletter said colleagues were “saddened by the sudden and tragic loss of one of our long-serving meteorologists,” who died peacefully on March 3.
He worked with the National Hurricane Center and Aircraft Operations Center on aircraft and ground radar research. During the Hurricane aircraft mission, he served as the onboard radar scientist and conducted radar analysis. He then became an expert in radar data processing, the newsletter said. He received the Commerce Department Bronze Medal, two NOAA Administrator Awards, and the Army Corps of Engineers Patriotic Civilian Achievement Award.
Dodge’s ashes were placed inside a parcel. Among the symbols hung there was the Nepalese flag. Before becoming a meteorologist, he taught math and science to high school students as a Peace Corps volunteer.
Hurricane expert Michael Rowley shared a photo of the NOAA recording on social media, noting the drop of ashes and calling it a “beautiful memorial.”
An avid gardener, Mr Dodge also loved bamboo and participated in the Japanese martial art of Aikido, attending a session the weekend before his death.
“Even after he lost his sight, he had an unflinching intellectual curiosity,” Sherry Dodge said.