PORTLAND, Ore. - Hurricane Hunters are used to flying right through the center of hurricanes, but this winter they are flying off the Oregon coast.

Using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Hunters, meteorologists are getting a better understanding of the dynamics of Pacific storms.

With very few monitoring sites in the middle of the Pacific, the information is vital to understanding how storms will affect Oregon and the West Coast.

KATU was invited along for a ride that took us 1,200 miles off the Pacific Coast to collect raw data from a storm system. Watch the video to see the trip.

It was the luck of the draw that Portland hosted the Hurricane Hunters.  Usually, the winter flights are based out of Honolulu and Anchorage but both of their planes were off this season for scheduled maintenance.