who are the hurricane hunters? • it is hard

8/14/2019 Who Are the Hurricane Hunters? It is Hard

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Who are the HurricaneHunters?

It is hard to imagine, but agroup of pilots called TheHurricane Huntersactually fly directly into

hurricanes!

The 53rd Weather ReconnaissanceSquadron, known at theHurricane Hunters, arepart of the Air ForceReserve.


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What do the HurricaneHunters do?

They fly right into the

eye of the hurricaneto get information onthe hurricane.


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How is the Hurricane HuntersInformation used? (1)

The information fromthe Hurricane Hunters

is used by theNational HurricaneCenter to makepredictions about thesize, strength andfuture path of thehurricane.


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How is the Hurricane HuntersInformation used? (2)

The information fromthe hurricane huntersis used by local

officials who need tomake decisions aboutpossible evacuationsof areas that might beat risk for thehurricane.


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The Plane and the Crew (1)

The Hurricane Hunters use aWC-130 aircraft on their weather missions.

It can carry enough fuel for 14hours of flying but missionsusually last for 11 hours.

The planes are notstrengthened or modified in

any way, other than theaddition of extra fuel tanks andspecial weather gatheringequipment.


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The Plane and Crew (2) The planes have a six-person

crew that includes the aircraftcommander, co-pilot, flightengineer, navigator, weather officer and a dropsonde systemoperator.

The dropsonde system operator releases the dropsonde - aweather-sensing canister attachedto a small parachute. This canister radios back to the aircraftinformation on the temperature,

humidity, pressure and windsinside the storm. The weather information is processed aboardthe aircraft and transmitted bysatellite to the National HurricaneCenter.


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Flying into the storm (1)

The first mission tocheck a newhurricane is flown at a

low-level altitude,generally between500 and 1,500 feet.Later, as the stormbuilds in strength, theflights are at higher altitudes.


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Flying into the Storm (2)

The planes fly right into the storm - not above it!


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The ride can getpretty bumpy as thearea around the eye

is usually surroundedby a solid ring of thunderstorms calledthe eyewall.


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Sometimes the clouds

and rain are so thickthe aircraft's wingsare barely visible tothe crew.


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Flying into the Storm (5) Usually, its not too bad. Using

weather radar, the navigator candirect the airplane around theheaviest concentrations of rain.That's where the strongestturbulence is found. In a welldeveloped storm, sometimes youcan't avoid the rain; you just haveto plow right through it. That'swhere it can get bumpy (andsometimes scary!).

Once you get through the eyewall,the ride gets much better. In thevery center of the eye, its usuallyquite smooth and pleasant, not tomention incredibly beautiful.


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Your day on board with theYour day on board with theHurricane HuntersHurricane Hunters

LEVEL 4

A paragraph briefly describing what the hurricane hunters do

LEVEL 6

A third paragraph explaining what would happen if the hurricane hunterswere not collecting information about hurricanes How might it affect people?

LEVEL 5

A second paragraph that fully explains how the hurricane huntersinformation is used on the ground and why this is important

who are the hurricane hunters? • it is hard

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