Hurricane Hunters transition from tropical gales to arctic blasts

by Master Sgt. Brian Lamar
403rd Public Affairs

1/10/2014 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Maintaining constant awareness of what storm systems are doing is a concerted effort between the National Weather Service and the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known as the Hurricane Hunters.

Each year, to combat the persistent threat of Jack Frost, the 53rd WRS, fly out over the icy waters of the U.S. East and West coasts as well as the Gulf of Mexico in order to collect, with dropsondes, barometric pressure, temperature and precipitation data.

The official Winter-Storm season for the Hurricane Hunters begins in January and lasts through March. Typically, the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico winter-storm missions are launched from Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.

To gather data from the Pacific storms, the 53rd forward deploys to Hickam Air Force Base, in Hawaii. This year, as an experiment, the U.S. National Weather Service will not task the Hurricane Hunters to fly into the Pacific.

"I believe that they are trying to do a cost effectiveness analysis by seeing if the predictions would still be accurate enough without the weather recon flights," said Maj. Jon Brady, 53rd WRS weather officer.

"Unlike the Gulf and East Coast storms, which only give us a few days' notice before they hit land, the Pacific storms begin to develop further away from land, which gives meteorologists more time to correct the storm models and give a more accurate prediction of the storms intensity," said Lt. Col. Jon Talbot, the squadron's chief meteorologist. "They are trying to determine how much value is in having a plane fly into a storm's path versus how much can be saved if it determined that a flight is not necessary," said Talbot.

During weather reconnaissance missions, the 53rd, provide the National Weather Service with additional observations in areas of uncertainty on storm-tracking models. Areas of uncertainty occur in the tracking models due to the lack of weather data collection devices in the middle of the ocean.

"The data stream is low out over the ocean; there are not any data points to collect from like we have on land. You can use satellite data, but it will usually only give you so much information," said Talbot.

Watching the news each night during a winter storm shows the deadliness of the storm and also the costs associated. Winter storms can last for weeks and dump a lot of expenses on the American population that ranges from snow plowing, destroyed crops and livestock to infrastructure damage.

"Winter storms, on average, kill more Americans each year than hurricanes do," said Lt. Col. Jon Talbot, the squadron's Chief Meteorologist. "On average, an inch of snow removal for a city like New York City, can cost one million dollars. If the data we collect provides the national weather service with a more accurate prediction, cities can be better prepared lives and property can be saved," said Talbot.