About Hurricane Hunters in 2024

I was listening to  WHYY, this morning who broadcasts reports from National Public Radio (NPR) as a part of their Morning Edition broadcast. I heard a good report on the Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, the text of the report and some nice photos may be found on this NPR page.

Here is an embedded to link to their audio report:

I hope that you look at the link I provided earlier to look at their awesome photos.

A couple of points stuck out, one is that they have been using the same aircraft since 1996 and have requests to Congress for increased funding. Another point is that for the last several years they have been flying some missions in the winter to assess winter storms. This means that instead of flying for six months they are flying for 10 months. Finally they are bracing for a busier than usual 2024 hurricane season.

Here is an excerpt from their report where some of the pilots share about flying hurricanes:

The squad is known as the Hurricane Hunters, and they’re bracing for a busy tropical season. On a late May afternoon, 6 airmen are gathered around a conference table at their headquarters, looking over conditions for the day ahead of a training flight.

“I was thinking at some point today we run through the invest checklist [to] get ready since storm season is a week away,” McDermott says during the pre-flight briefing.

This is the only U.S. military unit tasked to collect real-time information for hurricane forecasters. They fly over, around, and through dangerous storms, piercing the eyewall as the propeller aircraft is pelted by hail and at times, winds topping 150 miles-an-hour.

“There's the cliché it’s like a roller coaster in a car wash,” says Lt. Col. Steven Burton, deputy operations commander with the Hurricane Hunters.

"A lot of times it's not that bad, but you get those once every now and then and makes you question your life's choices where it's violently shaking and there's hail hitting the windows and it's loud and the pilots are doing everything they can to maintain control of the airplane," says Burton, who has been with the Hurricane Hunters for about ten years.