Hurricane Hunters tracking down Alberto

  • Published
  • By Staff Reports
Keesler AFB, Miss. --  Air Force Reservists from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron’s “Hurricane Hunters” began flying the year’s first storm missions June 10 into what is now Tropical Storm Alberto.

Alberto is fueling up on the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and is strengthening. As of this morning, the Hurricane Hunters found that the center of the cyclone has abruptly reformed near the deep convection and was relocated some 60 nautical miles to the northeast of its previously estimated position. The Hurricane Hunters also reported a peak 2,500-foot flight-level wind of 74 knots and a central pressure of 997 millibars. Based on this observation, the National Hurricane Center adjusted the intensity to 60 knots. Another reconnaissance mission is scheduled for this afternoon and the unit will continue rotating aircraft through the storm until it reaches land.

Despite the dramatic blow last year from Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Hunters' own home base and local communities along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, these Reservists, attached to Air Force Reserve Command’s 403rd Wing, never missed a mission. They flew more than 1,500 hours into storms beginning in mid-May with Hurricane Adrian in the Pacific and finally ended in early December flying missions into Hurricane Epsilon.

The Hurricane Hunters’ are flying the new Hercules WC-130J with dual heads-up displays for pilots and technological advancements such as improved weather radar, this aircraft significantly improves the situational awareness of the crew.

“The basic procedures we use to fly storms have not changed over the years as it is a tried and true method,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Talbot, chief aerial reconnaissance weather officer. “However the WC-130J has brought new capabilities we did not have in the past. The crews’ awareness of what’s going on around them has significantly improved and we will soon have a new instrument which remotely measures surface winds called the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer.”

The SFMR will be tested in November and is expected to be approved for operational use next season. This will allow continuous and direct measurement of the winds on the ocean surface and will provide the National Hurricane Center with much higher resolution data about storms at lower levels, the level which impacts people and property.

The National Hurricane Center has predicted 13-16 named storms this year, with 8-10 becoming hurricanes, of which four to six could become major hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher with winds of at least 111 mph.