Hurricane Hunters Fly First Storm Mission

  • Published
  • By Staff Reports
  • 403rd Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- --  As the Hurricane Hunters of the Air Force Reserve prepared to fly the first storm tasking of the 2008 Hurricane season early Friday morning, Category 1 Hurricane Bertha, with winds of 85 mph, was centered about 350 miles south southeast of Bermuda, moving northwest at around 7 mph.

Assigned to the 403rd Wing here, Citizen Airmen of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron are tasked by the National Hurricane Center to provide data used to forecast the path of nature's most destructive storms.

While Bertha's current path takes her east of Bermuda, the island could still see squally weather and high surf this weekend. Hurricane Hunters will use new equipment to help determine the surface level winds that will give people in the area a clearer picture of what to expect. The Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer, affectionately known as the "Smurf," measures surface winds with a much greater degree of accuracy.

The squadron began using the Smurf last season as it was outfitted on each of the 10 WC-130J aircraft in the fleet. This year, all aircraft are Smurf equipped.

The Smurf can also determine rainfall rates within a storm system. This, in addition to wind speeds at flight level provides structural detail of the storm.

"The most important information provided on today's flight will be the radius of gale-force winds for Bermuda," said Lt. Col. Jon Talbot, chief Aerial Reconnaissance Weather Officer for the Hurricane Hunters. "This is exactly one of the things the Smurf was designed to provide."

Having the Smurf on board is the most important advancement for this season, according to Colonel Talbot. With the full capability to provide surface wind speed data the unit gives NHC forecasters the most accurate surface wind speed information prior to landfall.

"This translates into more accurate warnings for the public," he said.

Data collected by the Hurricane Hunters increase the accuracy of the NHC forecast by 30 percent, a rate which will undoubtedly increase with the use of the Smurf allowing the NHC to more accurately forecast the path of storms in order to save lives and narrow areas of evacuation.