{"id":26077,"date":"2016-06-29T17:43:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T17:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/06\/29\/hurricane-hunters-help-inject-accuracy-into-storm-predictions\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:45:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:45:36","slug":"hurricane-hunters-help-inject-accuracy-into-storm-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2016\/06\/29\/hurricane-hunters-help-inject-accuracy-into-storm-predictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricane Hunters help inject accuracy into storm predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=ba179a68-20f6-4f84-a5aa-913b2ff7b51c\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Staff Sgt. Jesse Jordan shows us how his team collects vital weather data.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>ABOARD AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER OVER JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">M.D.<\/span>\u00a0\u2014 In mere seconds, the WC-130J springboards past 1,000 feet. It\u2019s the extra push the J-model aircraft \u2014 first delivered to the Air Force Reserve &#8220;Hurricane Hunters&#8221; \u2014 gets on takeoff. It\u2019s that kind of power the aircrew relies on to propel through a storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With hurricane season just beginning, the five airman-crew from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron expects a busy few months. Twenty aircrews belong to the squadron stationed at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the Defense Department&#8217;s\u00a0only manned weather reconnaissance unit. Of the 53rd&#8217;s 10 WC-130Js, three can fly in different storms simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Once we go through [a storm], the weather center can actually increase their accuracy by 25 percent,&#8221; Maj. Brad Roundtree, squadron pilot and crew&#8217;s commander of the WC-130J, tail number\u00a05307,\u00a0told reporters Tuesday.<br\/> \u00a0<br\/> There were 11 tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic in 2015. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/story\/military\/2015\/10\/01\/air-force-planes-moved-ahead-hurricane-joaquin\/73174240\/\">Hurricane Joaquin<\/a>\u00a0reached Category 4 status, with 155 mph wind speeds. Members of the 53rd braved the winds,\u00a0flying figure eights right through the storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, each of the aircrews knows its limits. For Staff Sgt. Jesse Jordan, Hurricane Patricia left him a little rattled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We typically go into turbulence,&#8221; the 53rd WRS loadmaster said of the Category 5 hurricane. Patricia hit speeds of 215 mph as it\u00a0climbed up western Mexico.\u00a0But &#8220;during this hurricane, we needed to drop two dropsondes in quick succession,&#8221; Jordan said, referring to a buoy that collects data on wind speeds, dew point, pressure and temperature.\u00a0Dozens can be dropped on any given six- to 10-hour flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To move just 2 or 3 feet to get the buoy in its casing, Jordan said he was basically levitating through the aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t really get the jitters until that first big wave of turbulence,&#8221; he said. &#8220;After you&#8217;ve done this a few times, it&#8217;s more exciting than scary &#8230; but still scary.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Hurricane Hunters respond to storms from Hawaii in the Pacific to the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The crew will fly to a maximum\u00a010,000 feet, but can get as low as 2,000. Using enhanced equipment during the reconnaissance mission, the aircraft\u00a0can get readings right off the ocean&#8217;s surface without having to fly that low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The crew uses a passive wind sensor, called a stepped frequency microwave radiometer, which allows them to look past the clouds. &#8220;It judges what temperatures are coming off that water, giving us a read of approximately how rough that ocean is,&#8221; said Maj. Kyle Larson, 53rd WRS aerial reconnaissance weather officer. The hunters have been using the remote &#8220;smerf&#8221; sensors for only\u00a0about five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Instead of dropping sondes all the way &#8230; into the eye of the storm, this is constantly updating,&#8221; Roundtree said, referring to the SFMR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both are equally\u00a0accurate, Larson added. The nonrecoverable, biodegradable dropsondes use GPS. A satellite uplink on the plane transmits the data \u2014\u00a0every 10 minutes \u2014 to National Hurricane Center in Miami. The Air Force weather units are secondary to receive that data &#8220;for archival purposes,&#8221; Larson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Real-time data the Hurricane Hunters collect from inside hurricanes is often used in the models to forecast where hurricanes will go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The level of interest, from depression, to tropical storm, to hurricane from [Category] 1 to Cat 5, we&#8217;ll fly all courses of the storm,&#8221; Roundtree said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The C-130s are tools themselves. Affectionately called the &#8220;stubbys,&#8221; the J-models delivered to the hunters in 1999 are about 15 feet shorter than the C-130Js rolling off the production line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roundtree, who transitioned over to the hunters a year ago from AC-130 gunships says the ironically quieter stubbys make his mission just as exciting as protecting ground troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Once you get into the storm environment, there&#8217;s still a lot of things you&#8217;ve got to worry about,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The safety of the crew, the safety of the aircraft. You&#8217;ve got to make sure you make it through the eye and back in one piece, and it&#8217;s kind of the same thing in combat,&#8221; Roundtree said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Oriana Pawlyk covers\u00a0deployments, cyber,\u00a0Guard\/Reserve, uniforms,\u00a0physical training,\u00a0crime and operations in the Middle East, Europe and Pacific for Air Force Times. She was the Early Bird Brief editor in 2015. Email her at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:opawlyk@airforcetimes.com\" target=\"_blank\">opawlyk@airforcetimes.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The crew of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron expect a busy hurricane season, in which they&#8217;ll fly into storms in order to get accurate readings that will make forecasting more accurate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":51447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[16,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1640],"class_list":["post-26077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"K3QQY44A4FCTDMDTOPYP54F2SM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2016\/06\/29\/hurricane-hunters-help-inject-accuracy-into-storm-predictions\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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