NOAA drops a scientist's ashes into the Category 5 Eye of Milton

A lifetime of hurricane research

Dodge, who died on March 3, 2023, worked extensively with the National Hurricane Center and the Aircraft Operations Center, focusing on both land and airborne radar research.

“During hurricane season, Peter participated in hurricane aircraft missions, acting as an onboard radar scientist and conducting radar analysis. He later became an expert in radar data processing,” wrote the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) in its January-March 2023 Newsletter report (helpfully highlighted by First Coast News).

According to the AOML newsletter, Dodge received several awards for his work, including a Bronze Medal from the Department of Commerce, two NOAA Administrator Awards and the Army Corps of Engineers Patriotic Civilian Service Award.

As his vision deteriorated over time, Dodge continued to design flight modules for hurricane landfall experiments and coordinated data collection with research teams using mobile weather platforms. Dodge's colleagues at AOML remembered him fondly, noting his enthusiasm for discussing current events, books, music and radar technology.

After a life like this, it seems a fitting tribute that the ashes would be thrown into the eye of a historic Category 5 hurricane (at the time of the crash). As Jeremy DeHart put it in a post: “What a way to get every last penny.