Florida Air Operations Preparing for Hurricane Season

Having been to Florida once on vacation and having friends and family who spend time in Florida I try to pay attention to the hurricane season in Florida. I know that air operations can play an important role in tracking many storm events, including hurricanes. I saw this video from Vertical Plus on how Florida is preparing their air operations for the upcoming hurricane season and am sharing the video today.

 

Direct link to May 26th video from Vertical Plus on YouTube

NOAA Hurrican Hunter "Kermit" Flys into Hurricane Melissa

Direct link to October 27, 2025 video taken by Lt. Col. Mark White, navigator with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, flying into Hurricane Melissa

I have a great deal of respect for those who fly on Hurricane Hunter aircraft into Hurricanes. They do important work to provide good information with the goal of keeping us as safe as possible from hurricanes. 

I found a nice article by Matthew Cappuci, a regular contributor to the Washington Post and a Meteorologist with the weather app “MyRadar. He flew on “Kermit”, a NOAA hurricane hunter, on a mission flying through Hurricane Melissa. There were 19 people onboard Kermit, pilots, flight engineers, and researchers. Here is an excerpt from Cappuci’s October 27th article on the Washington Post (this article is a gift that expires in ten days on or about November 8th, for those coming on after November 8th I hope that you will still have free access to this article). Here is an excerpt from Cappuci's article to give you an idea of what it was like on Kermit:

Winds in the eyewall reach ridiculous speeds; over the open ocean, winds were gusting 140 mph or more. Eventually, all the rising air in an eyewall collides with the ceiling of the lower atmosphere; we call that the tropopause. Some of the air bounces against that ceiling, curling downward. It sinks (subsides), warms up and dries out. That punches out an oasis of calm: the eye. …

And then it happened. We emerged from the mist. A fingernail moon hung overhead in the deep twilight. I pressed my face against the glass. My jaw dropped.

I was sitting in the middle of a 10-mile-wide stadium of the gods. On all sides, hulking thunderstorms towered high above me — yet, directly overhead, the stars twinkled. With the faint glow offered by the moon, I could see brushstroke-like striations as the clouds in the eyewall swung around the eye at breakneck speeds. But, for a moment, I was in an oasis of calm.

My prayers are with all those affected by Hurricane Melissa as she struck Cuba and Jamaica, see this report from CBS News for more information.

Hurricane Hunter flies into Hurricane Milton Before Landfall

I have seen a video on various Florida media sites on YouTube of a hurricane hunter aircraft flying into Hurricane Milton the day before Milton made landfall near Siesta Key on the Gulf Coast of Florida at about 8:30 PM on October 9th. I spent some time looking at different versions of this video from media sites before settling on the one that I am embedding below because it shows the turbulence experienced as they were flying into Milton and some shots from the cockpit. The YouTube video is from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The first couple of minutes of the video where they are showing the effect of some turbulence gave me a look into what the crews of the hurricane hunters go through as they fly hurricanes to provide information for the National Hurricane Center's hurricane forecasts and related information.

Hurricane Hunters 2024 Edition Part 3

 I have a great deal of respect for the good work that hurricane hunter aircraft and their crew do flying into hurricanes to get information on tropical storms and hurricanes to help with hurricane forecast, information that can only be gotten from a hurricane hunter aircraft. I posted two articles on hurricane hunter aircrafts early in the hurricane season, one on June 3rd and the second on July 8th. After reading about Hurricane Milton that is currently churning in the Gulf of Mexico I wanted to find some videos to share with you about the work that hurricane hunters do. I want to thank the crews of the hurricane hunter aircraft for their dangerous work of flying into hurricanes in order that those in the path of a hurricane may take appropriate action to be safe.

I begin by sharing a Facebook post by the National Hurricane Center posted about 9:30 AM on October 7th.

Here are two videos, the first is a short video of a hurricane hunter flying into the eye of Helene. The second video is from The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (2019) that is a rerun so to speak

Direct link to video from WFLA News Channel 6 on YouTube

Direct link to video from The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on YouTube

Hurricane Hunters 2024 edition part 2

I do delve into aviation related issues that do not directly relate to wildland firefighting. One example being the important work that Hurricane Hunting aircraft to fly into hurricanes to gather important meteorological and location of tropical storms and hurricanes that are then sent to the National Hurricane Center. As many of you no doubt know from various news sources, Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the Texas Coast early this morning near Matagorda, Texas as a Catagory 1 hurricane, see this CNN report with updates for more information on how Beryl is impacting Texas including but not limited to wide spread power outages, flooding, etc.

I know that hurricane hunters have flown Beryl and have posted many videos over the years (see my posts labeled hurricane hunters). I want to draw your attention to two posts, one from June 3rd 2024 where I shared an NPR report on hurricane hunters including interviews with pilots. The second post is from July 7th, 2021 where I shared some information about hurricane hunter aircraft from NOAA and the US Air Force Reserve as well as a video of a hurricane hunter aircraft flying into a hurricane, the links in that article were still good as I posted this article. I encourage you to take a look at the two articles.

I want to share a video report from CBS17 (Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville NC) taking you inside one of NOAA's hurricane hunters known as Kermit just before the start of the 2024 hurricane season. I want to thank all the hurricane hunters pilots and crew for the good work you do flying into hurricanes to provide the best possible information on hurricanes and tropical storms.

Direct link to video from CBS17 on YouTube

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.

Hurricane Hunters: About a NOAA Hurricane Hunter flight through Hurricane Ian

 I don't mind saying that I have a great deal of respect for the NOAA and the US Air Force crews that fly into hurricanes to gather important scientific data on hurricanes in order to provide the latest data to aid forcasters at the National Hurricane Center provide up to date forecasts. Because I have been thinking recently about the dangerous conditions facing crews of Hurricane Hunter aircraft I wanted to find a relevant to share with you. I found one, listen to NOAA Aerospace Engineer Nick Underwood's experience on a NOAA Hurricane Hunter flying into Hurricane Ian in the fall of 2022. The video is courtesy of CNN whose reporter, Erin Burnett, interviewed Mr. Underwood.

Direct link to video from CNN on YouTube

Hurricane Hunters: early July 2021 edition

 I see this blog as sometimes delving into issues having to do with uses of aviation resources that are not specifically related to wildland firefighting. In prior years I have written about the use of NOAA and Air Force Reserve aircraft to hunt or fly into hurricanes, tropical storms. See for example this series that I wrote in 2015, some of the information in this 2015 series is dated but if you spend some time with those articles you can dive a little deeper into how Hurricane Hunter aircraft and crew do what they do. The two NOAA WP-3Ds have, to the best of my knowledge, been overhauled. Also, NOAA's hurricane hunters no longer fly out of Mac Dill, they fly out of Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, Florida. NOAA maintains and Aircraft Operations webpage that has more information on their program. 

I spent some time on Monday helping a friend find their way around the National Weather Service's hurricane watches and warnings. This got me thinking about the great work that the NOAA and Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft and crew do in flying hurricanes to gather data that provide current meteorological data on the hurricanes. So, I decided to devote today's article to an overview of Hurricane Hunters.

NOAA has two specially equipped Lockheed WP-3 Orion "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft that fly into hurricanes, Miss Piggy and Kermit. NOAA's G-IV Jet flying above and around the storm, for more information on these aircraft go here. In addition to NOAA's to Hurricane Hunters, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" are under the 403rd Air Force Reserve Wing. The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron fly specially equipped WC-130J aircraft out of Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. For more information see this factsheet.

I conclude by sharing two videos with you where you can get a brief over view about what the Hurricane Hunters do. The first video is a walk around of Kermit taken at the 2019 EAA AirVenture. You will learn about a little about how the NOAA Hurricane Hunters are used to obtain data directly from a hurricane or tropical storm.

Direct link to video on YouTube from EAA

The final video is footage from ViceNews of a Hurricane Hunter from the 53 Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and NOAA's Hurricane Hunters flying into Irma a category 5 hurricanes in 2017.

Direct link to video on Youtube from ViceNews

Hurricane Hunter Aircraft flying into Hurricane Dorian

As many of you know, Hurricane Dorian is gaining strength off of the coast of the United States. My purpose today is to write about the hurricane hunter aircraft flying into Hurricane Dorian, but first a few preliminaries. The image below is from the National Hurricane Center's web page, under the section for Hurricane Dorian. The National Hurricane Center (go here for their Facebook Page) is a good source of information about Hurricanes, but they do not provide location specific information. If you or a loved one lives in or near an area within striking distance of hurricane, you may go to the National Weather Service where you will see a map  of the United states, click on the area you are interested in. You will then be taken to the local National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office for your region (and check their social media accounts as well), and you will be able to get location specific hurricane advisories, watches and warnings.

Hurricane hunter aircraft may be from NOAA, see the NOAA Hurricane Hunter Facebook Page or from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the 403rd Wing (Air Force Reserve). The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron has a nice facebook page: U.S. Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Hurricane Hunters. These hurricane hunters fly into hurricanes including multiple flights into the eye to provide crucial data that is then used by weather forecasting models, including those from the National Hurricane Center, for hurricane forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center.

If you want to know about current and upcoming missions of either the NOAA or the 53rd Squadron's hurricane hunters, go to the webpage for aerial reconnaissance in the North Atlantic Basin, you will find information about reconnaissance mapping on that webpage (Google Earth requires downloading a KMZ file and Cesium does not appear to work in Firefox).

I was thrilled to see that the NOAA Hurricane Hunters has an all female  three-pilot flight crew. This all female crew flies the Gulfstrean IV-SP, NOAA 49 "Gonzo" : Capt. Kristie Twining, Cmdr. Rebecca Waddington, and Lt. Lindsey Norman.

Here are some short videos shared by the NOAA Hurricane Hunters on their Facebook page:

• NOAA 42, aka Kermit (P3 Orion) taking off from NOAA's aircraft operations center early in the morning of August 29th for a reconnaissance mission into Dorian. Go here to see more information on NOAA's two P3 Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft 
• NOAA 42 landing later on August 29th after completing a reconnaissance mission into Dorian.
• NOAA 42 while flying in Dorian's eye while on a reconnaissance mission into earlier on August 30th.

Here some nice Facebook posts from the U.S. Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron:

• August 27th news article about three WC-103J's and one C-130J Super Hercules ready to fly into Dorian
• Behind the scene planning and coordination for upcoming flights into Dorian (August 28th, photo only).
• Photos from an August 27th mission into Dorian
• Photos of buoys dropped by the 53rd's hurricane hunters (August 30th). These buoys will measure the temperature of the ocean surface, surface winds, and surface pressure.

I close by sharing two videos where you may learn a little more about what the hurricane hunters do.

In the first video from ABC Action News (serving Polk County Florida and environs) you will see one of NOAA's hurricane hunters taking off on a mission. This video was uploaded on August 29th.

Direct link to video from ABC Action News

The second video (just over four minutes) is from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum with highlights of a hurricane hunter from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flight, uploaded in April 2019. The video appears to be taken on a flight into Hurricane Florence in September 2018.

Direct link to video   

2018 Hurricane Season: Hurricane Hunters flying through Michael and Florence

Regular readers of my blog know that I have a great deal of respect for Hurricane Hunters that fly into Hurricanes to collect valuable weather data for the National Weather Service. I want to thank all the crews of the Hurricane Hunters as well as the crews on the ground for providing this data. What you do is dangerous, you are appreciated. Stay safe.

Here is a short video, a little over three minutes of a Hurricane Hunter flying through the eyewall of Hurricane Michael on or about October 9th.


Direct link to video uploaded by WGNO-TV News with a Twist ABC 26

The video below is from the Defense Video and Information Distribution Service aka DVIDS, B-Roll Hurricane Florence - Hurricane Hunters. Video shot on or about September 12, 2018 by Tech. Sgt. Chris Hibben, 4th Combat Camera Squadron. The footage is long, over 16 minutes, but there is some great footage of the crew deploying the instruments used to collect data from the Hurricane, footage  of the view from the airplane of the Hurricane including what appears to be some footage from inside the eyewall. Here is the description from the DVIDS webpage where I got the embed code:

An Air Force reserve HC-130J Hercules attached to to the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flys aerial weather missions for the Hurricane Hunters into hurricane Florence, Sep. 12, 2018 out of the Savanah Air National Guard base, Georgia. The U.S. Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, or Hurricane Hunters, is conducting a storm tasking mission into Hurricane Florence, currently a category 4 storm. The taskings provide weather data for the National Hurricane Center to assist in providing up-to-date and accurate information for storm forecasts. (U.S. Air Force Video by Technical Sgt. Chris Hibben)

2018 hurricane season: hurricane hunters continue to fly Hurricane Florence

Direct link to video


Direct link to video

As Hurricane Florence continues to make its way towards the southeast coast of the United States NOAA's hurricane hunters as well as those from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron continue to fly missions into and over Hurricane Florence. Aircraft reconnaissance plans of the day into hurricanes are available from this page from the National Hurricane Center. More information on hurricane hunter missions in the atlantic basin may be found on the tropical atlantic webpage. If you want to learn more about hurricane hunters, I wrote about NOAA's hurricane hunters in a series in June 2015 (the NOAA hurricane hunter known as Kermit is now refurbished). In May 2015 I wrote a series on the hurricane hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.

Here are the reconnaissance missions into Florence planned for Thursday, September 13th. Teal refers to C-130s from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.

2018 Hurricane Season: Hurricane Hunters flying Hurricane Florence

Updated on December 20, 2020: the video that I had originally shared here was from USA Today and is no longer available.

I expect that many of you in the United States know that Hurricane Florence is in the western atlantic making its way to a possible land fall in the southeastern United States as a category 4 hurricane sometime Thursday night into Friday.

According to the plan of the day from the National Hurricane Center for September 10, 2018, see below, there are four Hurricane Hunter flights into Florence. Teal refers to C-130s from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. NOAA 49 is NOAA's Gulfstream IV high altitude research aircraft.

I have a very high level of respect for all who crew the Hurricane Hunters. What you do is very dangerous. You do this to provide data to the NHC for their forecasts. The NHC forecasts in turn are used by the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices as they issue products to warn their residents of upcoming impacts of a hurricane or tropical storm. The impacts of a hurricane or tropical storm may be felt many miles for the center of storm. Stay safe and please heed any evacuations.

2018 Hurricane Season: Hurricane Lane

As Hurricane Lane heads towards the Hawaiian Islands, see this public advisory (#40A) from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)  with sustained winds of 105 mph (category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, my prayers are with the Hawaiian Islands. I found out the last Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance flight was on Wednesday August 22 local time (mission 12 into Lane, AF 307), see this page showing reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Lane from tropicaleastpacfic and an archive of 2018 hurricane hunter flights may be found here. Mission 12 was the last reconnaissance flight into Lane, the last flight into Lane was the Gulfstream (G-IV), NOAA 9, mission 13. This was in order to have enough lead time to safely evacuate all personnel, aircraft and equipment, see this notice for more information. AF307 is a C130 from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. What the men and women who crew the various hurricane hunter aircraft is very dangerous, they do this to protect us. I can not adequately say how proud all those who crew the various hurricane hunter aircraft, and their support team on the ground. I am very proud of them.

August 25, 2018 12:30 EDT update: Lane has been downgraded to a tropical storm, see this August 24th update from the US National Weather Service Honolulu & Central Pacific Hurricane Center Facebook Page. Alternatively, you can go to the latest public advisory (#45) from the CPHC

I don't have a video of a hurricane hunter reconnaissance mission into Lane to share with you, but I did find one from July 18th from U.S. Military Generation of a flight of a C130 from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flying into tropical storm Chris.


Direct link to video on Youtube

2018 Hurricane Season - an early start 2 of 2

I wrote on Friday,  June 1st about the official start of the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season, where I discussed NOAA's hurricane hunter aircraft. Today I want to mention the C-130J hurricane hunter aircraft flown by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the 403rd Wing. You may want to read about their WC-130J Hercules Aircraft and the special equipment used on their WC-130Js.

Here is a 10 minute video about the WC-130J Hercules Hurricane Hunters, it is dear to my heart because they are talking about flying Super Storm Sandy.


Direct link to You Tube video from NYC Aviation TV

2018 Hurricane Season - an early start

Past readers of this blog know that I am interested in other uses of aircraft used in non-military reconnaissance missions, especially including but not limited to the aircraft operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). I am especially interested in NOAA's Hurricane Hunter Aircraft. I'll get to these aircraft in a minute.

While today, June 1st, is the official start of the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season, I expect that many of you know that we got an early start to the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season with Tropical Storm Alberto that came ashore in the Florida Panhandle earlier this week, see this graphic from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to see Alberto's path. The last public advisory for Alberto from the NHC was issued on Tuesday, May 29th and may be found here. For those so inclined you can find a listing of all Alberto advisories issued by the NHC on this NHC web page. The National Hurricane Center has a good website with links to a variety of information about hurricanes including a map on their main page. You may switch between Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific to get a different map.

Many of you know that NOAA's Hurricane Hunters as well as the C130 Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" fly into hurricanes to collect data. You may go this link from NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations to learn more about NOAA's Hurricane Hunter aircraft. As I write this, there are four youtube videos on that page: NOAA Ocean Today on Hurricane Hunters, Views from Hermine, Hurricane Hunter in flight, and how the dropsonde is used.

If you are interested in tracking the Hurricane Hunters (NOAA's and those flown by the 53rd Weather Reconn Squadron) in real time, you may go this live recon page from tropicalatlantic dot com. Finally the NHC has an aircraft reconnaissance page that may be found here, where you will see the reconn reports from each flight, and they include a link where you may learn how to read the reports.

I do want to introduce you to NOAA's  Hurricane Hunter Aircraft before you go and read more about the Hurricane Hunters. Here is a short video from USA Today shot in May 2017 where you will meet the Hurricane Hunter Aircraft up and close and personal. I'll write more about the C-130s flown by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" in my next post.


Direct link to video from USA Today on Youtube

Kudos (again) to Hurricane Hunters

As folk in Texas and Louisiana (and elsewhere) continue to recover from Hurricane Harvey that made landfall on the Texas Coast on August 25th, Florida and adjoining states on the Southeastern United States are preparing for Irma's landfall later this weekend. My thoughts and prayers are with all those in Irma's path.



I know that NOAA's Hurricane Hunters as all as Hurricane Hunters from the US Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the 403rd Wing have been flying Irma to provide meteorological data on Hurricane Irma. Before I go any further, I want to express my deep appreciation and thanks to the crew of all of our Hurricane Hunters! What they do is risky!

NOAA Flight Directer, Richard Henning on board NOAA42 (Kermit) on September 6th gave Fox News an interview on what NOAA 42 is doing, below is the report (allow 5 minutes) from Fox News.


Direct link to video on Youtube from FoxNews

Here is a short video from Nick Underwood of NOAA42 posted on the NOAA Hurricane Hunter Facebook Page flying the eyewall of Hurricane Irma on or about September 6th, a category 5 hurricane at the time this video was posted.

I finish with another short video of NOAA42, also posted on the NOAA Hurricane Hunter Facebook Page, flying Irma on September 4th, this time from Lt. Rob Mitchell of NOAA.

USAF Hurricane Hunter flies winter storm (March 12)

In the course of learning and then writing about Hurricane Hunters last year, see for example this post, I learned that the Hurricane Hunter aircraft will sometimes fly reconnaissance missions into winter storms to gather information that can go into the weather models. Last Friday I saw a couple of references that such a Hurricane Hunter Recon flight was planned for this past weekend.
I know that I saw a couple of other references to this Hurricane Hunter recon flight. Unfortunately, I failed to bookmark these references.

Some of you may recall that there is a nice website that tracks reconnaissance flights into the Atlantic by NOAA's and the USAF's Hurricane Hunters, Aerial Reconnaissance in the North Atlantic. Wanting to find out a little more that I could share with you, I went to Aerial Reconnaissance in the North Atlantic and then to their Recon Archives, and looked under non-tasked missions in 2017. I found what I was looking for:

Mar.12th, 00.38Z, Track66, flown by AF304 (US Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron).

If you look at the list of flights under non-tasked missions in 2017, you will see that you have the option to either look at a map in Google Earth or in Cesium (that you can access with most but not all browsers). I used Cesium to get some screen shots for you.

Here is a partial list of archived flights for you:

obtained on March 13, 2017, 2:45 PM EDT from http://tropicalatlantic.com/recon/recon.cgi?basin=al&non_tasked=2017

Here are a couple of shots from Cesium (represented by the icon on the far right in the last column:

The flight of AF304 is represented in orange. Obtained on 3/13/17from http://tropicalatlantic.com/recon/recon.cgi?basin=al&year=2017&identifier=Track66&mission=02&agency=AF&aircraft=304&month=03&day=12&mapping=cesium

And here is a close up view where you can see icons that represent dropsondes and the hourglass icons represent observations:

Finally I selected a dropsonde observation for you. I could only get a small portion of the data for you in this screen shot.

Obtained on 3/13/17from http://tropicalatlantic.com/recon/recon.cgi?basin=al&year=2017&identifier=Track66&mission=02&agency=AF&aircraft=304&month=03&day=12&mapping=cesium

As a resident of New Jersey, one of the many states that will be impacted by this major winter storm tonight into tomorrow, I want to thank AF304 and her crew from the USAF 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron for flying this storm and getting data on the storm that can only be obtained from the air. I know that this data went into the weather models used by the National Weather Service. Your flight on our behalf matters! Thank-you again and stay safe!

Hurricane Hunters flying Major Hurricane Matthew -- Thank-you!!

Direct link to video

Obtained from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ at 2:24 PM on October 5, 2016
This information is current at the time noted above, see http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ for the latest advisories for Matthew

Since I first wrote about Hurricane Hunters last year (NOAA and USAF 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron) I find myself thinking about all who pilot and crew Hurricane Hunters just as I always think about those who fly tankers and helicopters used to fight wildfires. Once I write about aircraft, I get involved. As both NOAA and the USAF 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron have been making daily or twice daily sorties into Hurricane Matthew (a category three hurricane as I write this), I want to pause and say "thank-you." Somehow saying thank-you seems wholly inadequate. You are flying hurricanes and penetrating the eyewall in order to provide data to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The NHC in turn uses this data as the provide us with forecasts, discussions and advisories. All so that we can be as safe as we can, and to evacuate if need be.

Last Friday, September 30th, Matthew was a category five hurricane which means that his top winds were in excess of 156 miles per hour (according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale). This meant the Hurricane Hunter flying reconnaissance last Friday was flying through winds in excess of 156 miles per hour as they were penetrating the eyewall. And they made a few penetrations. Not all Hurricanes are Cat 5, and Matthew is down to Cat 3 as I write this. Still . . .  Thank-you Hurricane Hunters for doing what you do to provide with the information so that we may evacuate if warranted. You fly Hurricanes to keep us safe. Thank-you.

For those of you who might want a safe arm chair view of what it is like to fly into the eyewall of a major Hurricane, see the article that I wrote on October 28, 2015 where I embedded some footage shot from one of the Hurricane Hunters who flew Hurricane Patricia last fall. She was a Category 5 Hurricane as she made landfall in Mexico.

You fly were no other airplanes can go. Thank-you.

Stay safe everyone. Please heed any evacuation advisories.

Thanks to Hurricane Hunters

On a day when some in the Mid-Atlantic are getting ready for whatever Hurricane Hermine throws our way later this weekend into early next week I do want to pause a moment and thank all the #Hurricane Hunters who have been flying this storm and others. I don't know about you, but airplanes and weather bring out the geek in me. First if you or your loved ones are living in areas that may be impacted by Hermine, you may want to check out the National Hurricane Center Website as well as you local National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office.

If you are want to know more about any current missions being flown by the Hurricane Hunters, you may find a list of today's and tomorrow's missions on the NHC Aircraft Recon Page, check under plan of the day at the top of the page. For example, here is today's (September 2nd's) potential Hurricane Hunter Missions (I believe that the Teal designation refers to Hurricane Hunters from the USAF 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron:

000
NOUS42 KNHC 021457
REPRPD
WEATHER RECONNAISSANCE FLIGHTS
CARCAH, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER, MIAMI, FL.
1100 AM EDT FRI 02 SEPTEMBER 2016
SUBJECT: TROPICAL CYCLONE PLAN OF THE DAY (TCPOD)
         VALID 03/1100Z TO 04/1100Z SEPTEMBER 2016
         TCPOD NUMBER.....16-099

I.  ATLANTIC REQUIREMENTS

    1. TROPICAL STORM HERMINE
       FLIGHT ONE - TEAL 71           FLIGHT TWO - TEAL 72
       A. 03/1730Z,2330Z              A. 04/0530Z
       B. AFXXX 1509A HERMINE         B. AFXXX 1609A HERMINE
       C. 03/1430Z                    C. 04/0215Z
       D. 36.0N 75.3W                 D. 37.1N 73.0W
       E. 03/1700Z TO 03/2330Z        E. 04/0500Z TO 04/0800Z
       F. SFC TO 10,000 FT            F. SFC TO 10,000 FT

    2. SUCCEEDING DAY OUTLOOK: CONTINUE 6-HRLY FIXES WHILE 
       SYSTEM REMAINS A THREAT

II. PACIFIC REQUIREMENTS

    1. HURRICANE LESTER
       FLIGHT ONE - TEAL 76           FLIGHT TWO - TEAL 77
       A. 03/1800Z, 04/0000Z          A. 04/0600Z,1200Z
       B. AFXXX  0713E LESTER         B. AFXXX 0813E LESTER
       C. 03/1630Z                    C. 04/0515Z
       D. 21.7N 154.5W                D. 22.4N 157.3 
       E. 03/1730Z  TO 04/0000Z       E. 04/0530Z,1200Z
       F. SFC TO 10,000 FT            F. SFC TO 10,000 FT

    2. OUTLOOK FOR SUCCEEDING DAY.....NEGATIVE.

$$
JWP

NNNN

Finally if you want information on Hurricane Hunter flights in progress, or past flights, go to Live Recon in the Atlantic. You can either use your browser by clicking Cesium (no plug in required) or you may download a plug-in for Google Earth. I have just recently started using Cesium and it is very easy to use. I downloaded an image for you from Hurricane Hunter Mission 14 into Hermine flown by USAF (C-130J) 304. If you are looking at this in your browser, you can zoom in and you can click on different observations (the wind flags, the dropsnodes (cylindrical objects) to get the data. Pretty cool stuff.

Hurricane Hunter Mission 14 into Hermine flown by USAF 304 (C-130J)

Stay safe Hurrican Hunters and thanks for your service!!

NOAA Hurricane Hunter flying the eyewall of Hurricane Patricia

As most of you know, Hurricane Patricia made landfall last Friday in Mexico packing 165 mph winds. Here is video of NOAA Hurricane Hunter NOAA43 flying the eye of Patricia when she was still over the eastern Pacific. The video was shared on Facebook by the NOAA Hurricane Hunters, here is a  direct link to the video on Facebook