Recap of Julia and Lisa flights

NOAA conducted two flights into Julia and five into Lisa during October of this year, all in the Caribbean Sea. The main purpose of all the missions was to gather Doppler Radar and dropwindsonde data for ingestion into NOAA's computer models to improve forecasts. Flight tracks of missions into Julia (left) and Lisa (right) during …

Recap of Hurricane Ian flights

In September, NOAA conducted 15 missions in and around Hurricane Ian before its historic landfall in Florida. Among these were 8 P-3 missions and 7 synoptic surveillance missions conducted by the G-IV. One hundred forty-three dropwindsondes were released along with 18 Airborne Expendable Bathythermographs to measure profiles in the atmosphere and the ocean underneath Ian. …

Meet HRD scientist Gus Alaka

Gus researches the relationship of the large-scale environment with hurricane formation and interactions between multiple storms. He also works closely with numerical hurricane models, including the Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System (HAFS), which is #NOAA’s next-generation hurricane prediction system. He flies on Hurricane Hunter missions to collect critical data that improve hurricane forecasts.  One of Gus’ …

Review of aircraft missions into Hurricane Earl

NOAA conducted 20 aircraft missions into Hurricane Earl in late August and early September. The series of flights over 12 days was the longest series of flights into one system that NOAA has conducted. We recently reviewed these flights, and the slides from the review can be found here. Flight tracks of all the NOAA …

NOAA completes historic missions into Hurricanes Earl, Fiona, and Ian

Despite the late start to the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane season, NOAA Hurricane Hunters have been very busy flying operational and research missions into and around Hurricanes Earl, Fiona, and Ian during the last few weeks. The crew of NOAA42 before a flight. Credit: Holly Stahl NOAA/AOML HRD scientist Kathryn Sellwood analyzing dropsonde data during the …

NOAA Researchers fly a series of missions into Hurricane Ian

Outer rainband of Hurricane Ian as seen from NOAA 43 "Miss Piggy" Scientists from NOAA's Hurricane Research Division and NOAA's National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service have flown a series of missions into Hurricane Ian from the time it was a tropical depression in the eastern Caribbean. On board both NOAA P3s (Kermit & …

NOAA flight captures intensifying Fiona

Eyewall of Hurricane Fiona as seen from Miss Piggy (NOAA43) On the night of September 19th, 2022, NOAA Hurricane Hunter "Miss Piggy" penetrated the eyewall of Hurricane Fiona as it emerged from the northern coast of Hispañola. The researchers onboard captured data of an intensifying storm as it moved toward the Turks and Caicos Islands. …

NOAA aircraft examine tropical disturbance for signs of development

Cockpit of NOAA 43 as it flies into the disturbance In late August 2022, both NOAA P-3s and its G-IV jet are engaging in a series of missions to examine an area of disturbed weather over the tropical Atlantic. As part of the Impact of Targeted Observations on Forecasts (ITOFs) project scientists are examining such …

Thirtieth anniversary of Hurricane Andrew’s landfall in South Florida

Hurricane Andrew made landfall on August 24, 1992, near Homestead, Florida, becoming one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in U.S. history. It had an extremely low central pressure of 922 millibars and maximum sustained wind speeds estimated at 165 miles per hour. The storm rapidly intensified less than 36 hours before landfall, leaving most residents less …

Study relating low-level wind flowing into the centers of tropical cyclones and intensification published in the Journal of Geophysical Research

This study uses the observations from Hurricane Hunter aircraft to investigate the inflow of warm, moist air into the tropical cyclone (TC) center that fuels the circulation.  Specifically, the inflow angle is the difference between the wind direction and the direction of a circular wind that does not flow into the center.  The study found …