<p>The crew of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research plane Kermit tracked the then tropical storm Franklin on August 9, as the storm was making its way west towards a second landfall on the Mexico coast.</p><p>This timelapse shows the plane flying though cloudy skies over open water before approaching and entering denser cloud formations. Such NOAA flights are used to gather information that allows for better predictions</a> about a hurricane’s path.</p><p>The storm first made landfall</a> on the Yucatan Peninsula on August 8 before turning into a hurricane</a> on August 9, becoming the first Atlantic hurricane of 2017. Credit: NOAA Hurricane Hunters via Storyful</p><br />
