Hurricane Hunters

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Hurricane hunter

One of NOAA's WP-3D Orion weather reconnaissance

aircraft in flight.

The Hurricane Hunters are aircraft that fly into tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic
Ocean and Northeastern Pacific Ocean for the specific purpose of directly measuring weather
data in and around those storms. In the United States, the Air Force, Navy, and NOAA units
have all participated in this mission. Before artificial satellites were used to find storms, the
military units flew routine weather reconnaissance tracks to detect formation of tropical
cyclones. Although satellite data has revolutionized weather forecasters' ability to detect early
signs of tropical cyclones before they form, there are still many important tasks they are not
suited for. Satellites cannot determine the interior barometric pressure of a hurricane, nor
provide accurate wind speed information.
Units that commonly called part of the Hurricane Hunters are the United States Air Force
Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Hunters.

Contents
[hide]

1 Reasons for use

2 Aircraft
3 Deployment
o 3.1 Current deployment
o 3.2 Hurricane Katrina
4 History

o
o
o

4.1 Storm patrol bill of 1936

4.2 1943 Surprise Hurricane
4.3 Swan 38
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Reasons for use

Before artificial satellites were used to find storms, military units flew routine weather
reconnaissance tracks to detect formation of tropical cyclones. While satellites can now
perform this part of the mission, they cannot directly measure the weather data inside these
storms. Satellites cannot determine the interior barometric pressure of a hurricane, nor
provide accurate wind speed information. These data are needed to accurately predict
hurricane development and movement.
The U.S. Navy's VW-4 / WEARECORON FOUR Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Four,
"Hurricane Hunters" was the first military squadron tasked with weather
reconnaissance.[citation needed] They flew several different types aircraft, but the WC-121-N
"Willy Victor" was the aircraft most often associated with flying into the "Eye of the
Storm..." VW-4 lost one aircraft and crew in a Hurricane Penetration, and another to severe
damages in a storm, but the mortally damaged Willy Victor (MH-1) brought her crew home,
though she never flew again.
53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, better known as the "Air Force Hurricane Hunters",
is a United States Air Force squadron of aircraft, based in Biloxi, Mississippi, that flies
missions into hurricanes and weather systems for research purposes and observation.
Hurricane trackers flies instrumented Lockheed WC-130J aircraft. The area of responsibility
for the Hurricane Hunters is midway through the Atlantic Ocean to the Hawaiian Islands. The
Air Force Reserve Hurricane trackers have also been tasked to fly into typhoons in the Pacific
Ocean on occasion, as well as gather data in winter storms.
The Hurricane trackers of the Air Force Reserve are distinct from the NOAA Hurricane
Hunters, based at the Aircraft Operations Center at MacDill AFB, in Tampa, Florida using
WP-3D Orion and Gulfstream IV-SP aircraft for this mission. The NOAA Hurricane trackers
mainly perform surveillance, research, and reconnaissance with highly instrumented aircraft
including airborne Doppler weather radar measurements in both Atlantic and Pacific storms.

[edit] Aircraft
The Lockheed WC-130J aircraft is a venerable workhorse. It flies directly into the hurricane,
typically penetrating the hurricane's eye several times per mission at altitudes between
500 feet (150 m) and 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The 53rd WRS Hurricane Hunters operate ten
WC-130J aircraft for weather reconnaissance.

The Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft flown by the NOAA Hurricane Hunters are heavily
instrumented flying laboratories specifically modified to take atmospheric and radar
measurements within tropical cyclones and winter storms.
The NOAA G-IV Gulfstream high altitude jet conducts hurricane surveillance flying
upwards of 4,000 miles (6,400 km) each flight to document upper and lower level winds that
affect the movement of tropical cyclones. The hurricane models (computer models predicting
hurricane tracks and intensity) mainly utilize NOAA G-IV dropwindsonde data that is
collected both day and night in storms affecting the United States.
Other aircraft have been used to investigate hurricanes, including an instrumented Lockheed
U-2 that was flown in Hurricane Ginny during the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season.
Past aircraft used were the A-20 Havoc, 1944; B-24, 19441945; B-17, 19451947; B-25,
19461947; B-29, 19461947. WB-29, 19511956; WB-50, 19561963; WB-47, 1963
1969; WC-121N 1954-1973; WC-130A,B,E,H, 1965-2005.

[edit] Deployment
[edit] Current deployment

Patch of the Hurricane Hunters

The Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron is currently based at Keesler
Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, and the majority of all of the reconnaissance flights are
based from Keesler. The United States Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters are the only
operational military weather reconnaissance unit in the world.
Civilian and NOAA Corps crew members of The NOAA Hurricane Hunters, a non-military
organization based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, are also tasked to support
hurricane reconnaissance flights. Part of the US Department of Commerce, the organization
maintains a fleet of three hurricane aircraft which are primarily used for hurricane research
and hurricane surveillance missions.

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

The landfall of Hurricane Katrina on 29 August 2005 caused devastating damage to Keesler
Air Force Base, home base of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. The equipment
and personnel of the squadron were flying out of Dobbins Air Reserve Base near Atlanta.
Despite heavy losses, the squadron never missed a tasked mission from the National
Hurricane Center. The 53rd has since returned to Keesler and is now once again flying
weather reconnaissance missions from the base.

[edit] History

View of the eyewall of Hurricane Katrina taken on Aug 28, 2005 by a NOAA P-3.

[edit] Storm patrol bill of 1936

The idea of aircraft reconnaissance of hurricane storm trackers was put forth by Captain W.
L. Farnsworth of the Galveston Commercial Association in the early 1930s. Supported by the
United States Weather Bureau, the "storm patrol bill" passed both the United States Senate
and United States House of Representatives on June 15, 1936.[1]

[edit] 1943 Surprise Hurricane

The 1943 Surprise Hurricane, which struck Houston, Texas during World War II, marked the
first intentional meteorological flight into a hurricane. It started with a bet.
That summer, British pilots were being trained in instrument flying at Bryan Field. When
they saw that the Americans were evacuating their AT-6 Texan trainers in the face of the
storm, they began questioning the construction of the aircraft. Lead instructor Major Joe
Duckworth took one of the trainers out, and flew it straight into the eye of the storm. After he
returned safely with navigator Lt. Ralph O'Hair, the base's weather officer, Lt. William JonesBurdick, took over the navigator's seat and Duckworth flew into the storm a second time.

This flight showed that hurricane reconnaissance flights were possible, and further flights
continued on irregularly. In 1946, the moniker "Hurricane Hunters" was first used, and the
Air Force and now Air Force Reserve have used it ever since.

[edit] Swan 38
In 1974, a newly converted WC-130 (serial number 65-0965) was transferred to the 54th
Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, the "Typhoon Chasers", at Andersen Air Force Base on
Guam. The aircraft was sent to investigate Typhoon Bess. The crew departed Clark Air Base
in the Philippines with the callsign "Swan 38".
Radio contact with the aircraft was lost on 12 October 1974, apparently as the aircraft was
heading into the typhoon's eye to make a second position fix. There were no radio
transmissions indicating an emergency on board, and search teams could not locate the
aircraft or its crew. All six crew members were listed as KIA.[2]
Swan 38 is one of very few of Hurricane Hunter flights lost, and the only WC-130 lost in a
storm.