The U.S. Air Force reserve maintains 10 WC-130J planes at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi to monitor major weather events like hurricanes.
The WC-130J’s are flown by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron known as the “Hurricane Hunters” for flying into the center of storm systems to get valuable data for public officials. The flights are necessary to obtain accurate measures of a hurricane’s strength, which can save lives . The squadron has been deployed several times to record data on Hurricane Irma, which is currently bearing down the Florida coast.
The Hurricane Hunter’s have not lost a plane since 1955 when Snowcloud Five was lost on a mission somewhere inside category 4 Hurricane Janet. Since that time the squadron has flown 100,000 hours without any mishaps.
“The exact location of the center is extremely important to the forecasters at the National Hurricane Center. Although they have excellent satellite photos that show the eye (that’s how we know where to head to in the first place!), they can’t tell where the pressure center is. Another important reason we fly is to give the forecasters accurate wind speeds within a 105 nautical mile radius of the eye. We can send wind speed data every 30 seconds as we make our cuts through the hurricane,” the group’s website notes.
“The most important use of the wind speed data is when the hurricane is approaching a coastline and is going to make landfall,” the squadron’s site continues. “The forecasters at the National Hurricane Center have the awesome responsibility to decide how much of the coast needs to be evacuated and what types of watches and warnings to issue. Knowing precisely where the damaging winds are can make these difficult decisions a little easier.”
The group also described a plane’s typical approach pattern into a Hurricane saying, “as we approach the strongest winds in a hurricane, we simply turn gradually into the wind (called “crabbing”) until we punch through into the calm eye. Although there are usually some bumps on the way through, they are nothing that the airplane can’t handle (although the folks on board can occasionally get sick!).”
One U.S. airman likened the experience to “a bunch of gorillas start jumping on top of your car” in the middle of a carwash to Reuters.
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