Hurricane Hunters wrap up Rafael operations

The Air Force Reserve "Hurricane Hunters," assigned to the 403rd Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, flew 17 weather reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Rafael to collect weather data for National Hurricane Center forecasts.

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, or "Hurricane Hunters," began flying Rafael Nov. 3 while it was still an investigation mission, which is flown close to the surface, between 500 - 1,500 feet, to observe surface level winds to determine if there was a closed circulation which would make the system a tropical cyclone.

Their last mission into Rafael was Nov. 9. Rafael strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane before it made landfall in western Cuba Nov. 6 and then weakened to a Category 2. As the system moved away from Cuba it weakened into a tropical Storm Nov. 9 and dissipated into a low-pressure system over the Central Gulf of Mexico, according to the NHC.

While satellites provide a lot of information about a storm; they don't provide information about what's happening inside of it. This is where the data collected by the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters assist the NHC.

The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are data sparse environments due to the lack of radar and weather balloons, so 53rd WRS crews usually fly through the eye of a storm at about 10,000 feet four to six times to collect real-time information in the storm.

"When flying into a storm, our crews are able to locate the center of low-pressure in the storm and collect weather data that assists with tracking the storm movement and intensity for forecasts," said Capt. Trent Davis, 53rd WRS pilot. "The data we collect can improve a forecast anywhere from 15-25 percent."

During a mission, the aircraft collects weather data such as temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, and surface pressure. During each pass through the eye, they release multiple dropsondes at different areas in the storm, which collect weather data on its descent to the ocean surface, specifically gathering data on temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and wind direction. An automated data package is sent out every 10 minutes while manual observations, such as the dropsonde data, are sent as necessary.

Hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30, isn't slowing down yet as the Hurricane Hunters are tasked to fly an investigation mission into a system in the western Caribbean today.

(Lt. Col. Marnee A.C. Losurdo, 403rd Wing Public Affairs, contributed to this article)