Hurricane Hunters patrol Gustav and Hanna from Homestead Air Reserve Base

  • Published
  • By the 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" continue to fly daily weather reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna from Homestead Air Reserve Base to aid the National Weather Service in providing the storm's projected path to the American public.

Hurricane Gustav is moving northwest toward the gulf coast at hurricane strength, and forecasters expect the storm to make landfall somewhere between Louisiana and Alabama.

The Air Force Reserve squadron, a component of the 403rd Wing located at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., is the only operational unit in the world flying weather reconnaissance on a routine basis. They provide surveillance of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Central Pacific for the National Hurricane Center. The unit also flies winter storm missions off both coasts of the United States

Hurricane Hunters fly WC-130J transport aircraft configured with weather instrumentation designed for penetration of Hurricanes and severe weather. The aircraft carries a basic crew of five: pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight meteorologist and weather reconnaissance loadmaster. The pilot, who serves as the aircraft commander, and the co-pilot man the flight controls. The navigator keeps track of the aircraft's position and movement and monitors radar to avoid tornadic activity. The flight meteorologist acts as flight director and observes and records meteorological data at flight level using a computer that encodes weather data every 30 seconds. The weather reconnaissance loadmaster collects and records meteorological data using a parachute-borne sensor known as a dropsonde to measures weather data down to the ocean surface.

This month, the Hurricane Hunters have also flown missions into Tropical Storm Fay, Tropical Storm Edouard and Hurricane Dolly to provide critical, real-time storm data to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

For more information on the Hurricane Hunters, please contact the 403rd Wing's Public Affairs Office at (228) 377-2056 or visit the 403rd Wing's Web site.