Meteorologist’s Ashes Dropped Into Hurricane Milton’s Eye a Year After His Death: 'He Always Wanted to Go Back Up In the Plane'

A late meteorologist who worked on hurricane aircraft missions received a burial at sea ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall, according to the New York Times, USA Today and First Coast News.

Peter Dodge, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radar scientist at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Florida, spent most of his life chasing storms before he died of a stroke at 72 in March 2023.

On Tuesday, Oct. 8, 20 of his colleagues in the NOAA's “Hurricane Hunters” paid tribute to his legacy by dropping his ashes into the eye of Hurricane Milton, about 300 miles southwest of Florida.

During the tribute, one passenger read Rabindranath Tagore’s poem, "Peace, My Heart.” Former coworker Kathryn Sellwood told USA Today that the “line that really stood out to everyone in the poem is, 'Let the flight through the sky end with folding of wings over the nest.’ ”

“Peter truly had an unyielding passion for participating in field activities, including flying, and an insatiable curiosity for research,” Shirley Murillo, deputy director of the Hurricane Research Division at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, told the New York Times. “By releasing his ashes into Hurricane Milton, we sought to honor his memory and his spirit of teamwork, adventure and curiosity.”

His sister, Shelley Dodge, told USA Today the tribute was “so beautiful," adding, "They honored him because he always wanted to go back up in the plane."

During Dodge's final flight, the Hurricane Hunters provided real-time information to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) as they gathered data about Hurricane Milton. Dodge worked with the organization and Aircraft Operations Center on land and airborne radar research during his career.

Dodge spent 44 years in federal service and received several accolades, including a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal, two NOAA Administrator Awards, the Army Corp of Engineers Patriotic Civilian Service Award, the Department of Commerce Gold Medal as part of a Hurricane Research Division group award and an Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference Public Service Award, per the Times.

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He completed 386 "eye penetrations” throughout his career, and during those hurricane missions, he served as the onboard radar scientist. Peter designed flight modules and coordinated with research landfall teams to allow for a better understanding of the evolution of hurricanes’ structures and create more accurate storm forecasts.

Former coworker and longtime meteorologist Jeff Masters told USA Today that Dodge “understood hurricanes better or as good as anyone alive.” Masters told the outlet that Dodge's burial is the fourth time in the past 50 years a meteorologist's ashes have been dropped into the eye of a hurricane.

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