Lt. Col. Darryl Woods, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron pilot and aircraft commander, glances outside the cockpit as he flies toward Hurricane Irene August 27. Before the WC-130J aircraft arrived at Irene, the storm had already made landfall over the North Carolina coast. This was the Hurricane Hunters’ second-to-last flight into the storm before it pushed further north. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Ryan Labadens)

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Thick clouds engulf the WC-130J aircraft as it penetrates Hurricane Irene August 27. The flight was a pretty smooth one for the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron “Hurricane Hunters,” who transmitted storm data to the National Hurricane Center for their forecast models. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Ryan Labadens)

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Majors Kevin Fryar, aerial reconnaissance weather officer, and Andrew Clark, navigator, discuss alternative flight paths through Hurricane Irene, which had just made landfall over the North Carolina coast August 27. Navigators and ARWOs for the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron coordinate during hurricane flights to balance data collection with aircraft safety. Certain areas that look good for gathering storm data may be ripe for water spouts or other unfavorable weather conditions. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Ryan Labadens)

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Senior Master Sgt. Anthony Hlavac, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron loadmaster, stores a dropsonde he prepared for release into Hurricane Irene August 27. The dropsonde is a parachute-borne device that measures and encodes storm data as it drops toward the surface of the water. It measures air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed and direction. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Ryan Labadens)

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Into the eye of the storm III

Published Aug. 30, 2011