Hurricane and Ocean Testbed Technical Workshop

NOAA P-3 data and satellite imagery overlain during a mission into Lisa. Data from the Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (showing wind and rain directly below the aircraft), Tail Doppler radar (measuring wind speed and direction throughout the storm), Wide-Swath Radar Altimeter (wave height below the aircraft), and flight-level instruments are all shown. 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. …

Study relating the structure of the area in a tropical cyclone closest to the surface and intensity released online in Monthly Weather Review

The study analyzes Doppler radar profile analyses to advance our understanding of how and why tropical cyclones intensify or weaken in relation to the shape of the vortex (whether the wind field is narrow or broad) and boundary-layer structure.  Example of a mean composite of only the radial wind velocity from airborne Doppler wind profile …

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 …

Meet HRD scientist Rob Rogers

Meet Rob Rogers, Lead Meteorologist of AOML’s Hurricane Research Division Observations Team.  Rob Rogers aboard a Hurricane Hunter aircraft. Image credit: Rob Rogers/AOML/NOAA Rob researches the physical processes underlying tropical cyclone structure and intensity change using airborne observations and numerical models. He is one of many scientists who fly aboard NOAA’s Hurricane Hunter aircraft to support …

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 …

NOAA Hurricane Field Program begins with flights into Potential Tropical Cyclone 2 in the Tropical Atlantic

The NOAA flight season began early this year with an operational flight into a system, known as Potential Tropical Cyclone 2, that may soon develop into a tropical depression east of the Windward Islands. The plan for the season was recently released and is available online at https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/2022-hurricane-field-program/, and a kickoff meeting to discuss plans …

Toward the “Perfect” Weather Warning published

The book discusses how to make weather warnings most effective through communication and partnerships. Warnings are the result of a process from weather observations to weather forecasts to hazard forecasts to socio-economic impact forecasts to warning messages to decisions on how to avoid or mitigate the hazard. The book offers a framework across government, private …

Latest version of AOML Keynotes available

Learn about the new William M. Lapenta Laboratory for the Hurricane and Ocean Testbed, the new Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System, the impact of Uncrewed Aerial Systems on hurricane forecasts, and more... The newsletter is available here.