Hurricane Hunters fly Atmospheric Rivers

A 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron WC-130J aircraft taking off out of Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California for an 8.5 hour mission for one of the missions into an Atmospheric River Feb. 1, 2019. The Atmospheric Rivers research missions are flown during the winter season to provide weather data forNational Center for Environmental Protection, who runs the Global Forecast System models and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo.)