Hurricane Hunters fly busy storm season in Pacific

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Ryan Labadens
  • 403rd Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" have flown several storm missions over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans this hurricane season, gathering weather data for the National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

The Pacific Ocean has been particularly active. So far this year, the Hurricane Hunters have flown seven named tropical systems over the Pacific out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Hawaii: Hurricanes Blanca, Carlos, Guillermo, Hilda and Ignacio, and Tropical Storms Ela and Kilo, said John Pavone, aircraft coordinator meteorologist, Chief Aerial Reconnaissance Coordination All Hurricanes at the National Hurricane Center. The Atlantic side has been more quiet, with the hunters flying only four named systems out of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands to date: Hurricane Danny and Tropical Storms Ana, Bill and Erika.

Over the Pacific, the Hurricane Hunters finished their last flight into Hurricane Ignacio Aug. 31. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center downgraded the storm to a Category 2 as it swept north of Hawaii Sept. 1. In the Atlantic, the hunters flew their final mission into Tropical Storm Erika Aug. 29. The storm broke up as it traveled across portions of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and eastern and central Cuba.

Some reasons the Pacific Ocean has been more active this season is because of the warmer waters experienced this year, good easterly trade winds, and no shear winds, resulting in moist, tropical air over the Pacific, said Lt. Col. Brian Schroeder, 53rd WRS aerial reconnaissance weather officer.

"During an El Nino year, the water gets much warmer and more moist than normal, causing a lot of storms to form over the Pacific as opposed to the Atlantic side, which is what we're seeing happen this year," said Schroeder.

This is the second year in a row the Hurricane Hunters have deployed to Hawaii in support of the hurricane season. In 2014, the squadron deployed to fly Hurricane Iselle, which formed into a Category 4 storm but then weakened into a tropical storm by the time it reached the Big Island of Hawaii Aug. 7, 2014. Before that, the last time the squadron deployed to Hawaii was in 2007 for Hurricane Flossie, which wasn't a direct hit and brought light damage to the islands.

The National Weather Service's Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu and the National Hurricane Center in Miami rely on satellite images and Doppler radar for their forecasts models. The data the Hurricane Hunters provide improves the accuracy of the track forecast by up to 25 percent, said Schroeder.

To gather this data, aircrews fly through the eye of a storm four to six times to locate the low-pressure center and circulation of the storm. During each pass through the eye, they release a dropsonde, which collects weather data on its descent to the ocean surface, measuring wind speed and direction, temperature, dew point and pressure. During storm flights, the aircrews transmit weather data via satellite communication every 10 minutes to the NHC or CPHC, providing forecasters vital data on a storm's intensity and direction, assisting them with their forecasts and storm warnings.

The Hurricane Hunters continues to be prepared for the possibility of flying further storm missions this season, both on the Pacific and Atlantic side of the United States.