Imagine standing in the middle of a tornado. Do you think you would learn much about storms? No way! You’d be running for your life!

Guess what? You can be inside a storm and outside a storm at the same time. You just have to use a drone.

Researchers flew drones into big storms. The drones carried instruments that measure weather conditions. How warm or cold is the air? How much moisture does it carry? Which way is the wind blowing? Researchers think if they do more drone-flying, they can learn how tornados form.

Drones can measure weather 2,500 feet in the air. That’s way higher than storm-chasing vehicles can measure. They can also measure wind below 300 feet. That’s lower than radar can reach. A drone can fly into strong winds, downdrafts, rain, and hail. Best of all, drone-use keeps humans safe. Better a drone flying up there than you!