Hurricane Hunters Head for Houston Published Sept. 21, 2007 By 403rd Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- -- Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters began flying missions in support of the National Hurricane Center Thursday into a disturbance in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The system began developing days ago off the eastern coast of Florida. Moving slowly across the Florida peninsula, storms dumped rain and produced heavy gusts before spilling into the Gulf. Remnants still over land Thursday night spawned a tornado damaging more than 50 homes in Eustis, Fla. Data collected by the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters led the National Hurricane Center to upgrade the storm to a subtropical depression at mid-day Friday. Squall lines were forming to the north of the center and beginning to pound the Florida Panhandle Friday morning. National Hurricane Center forecasters estimated subtropical depression 10 could further develop into a tropical storm sometime Friday or overnight as the system moves west-northwest and eventually making landfall over the Mississippi Gulf Coast sometime Saturday. Local officials near Keesler Air Force Base, are urging residents to be prepared and for those still living in less than sturdy structures, specifically FEMA trailers and similar structures to be ready to move to shelters if necessary. "We are still planning as if this could be as bad as a Category 1 hurricane or more likely tropical force winds," said Mike Womack, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. The Harrison County Emergency Management Agency is gearing up after this morning's issuance of a tropical storm warning, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected to impact the area within 24 hours. In preparation for the storm, the 403rd Wing, based at Keesler, conducted a Hurrevac for its 10 WC-130J and eight C-130J-30 aircraft. The WC-130Js flown by the Hurricane Hunters were deployed to Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, where the unit can continue the mission of providing data to the NHC. The Mississippi Gulf Coast bore the brunt of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. At that time, the Hurricane Hunters and their sister unit the 815th Airlift Squadron's "Flying Jennies" deployed to forward operating locations ahead of the storm allowing the hurricane mission to continue uninterrupted as well as allowing the 815th to transport critical supplies and personnel back into the area during relief efforts after the storm. The 2007 hurricane season started with Sub-Tropical Storm Andrea on May 9. Since then, the season has been about average. New this season, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron is equipping its aircraft with the Stepped- Frequency Microwave Radiometer, affectionately called the 'smurf'. Hurricane Hunters are using the 'smurf' technology on flights in to Hurricane Felix. The 'smurf' allows the Citizen Airman of the Hurricane Hunters to constantly measure surface winds directly below the aircraft. 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 SFMR will be the biggest advance I can think of to improve hurricane intensity forecasts," said Max Mayfield, former director of the NHC. The 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.' This data enables the NHC to more accurately predict the path of storms in order to save lives and narrow areas of evacuation, according to NHC forecasters. One WC-130J aircraft will be equipped with the SFMR each month until all 10 WC-130J aircraft are outfitted with the SFMR pod.