The Air Force Reserve "Hurricane Hunters," assigned to the Keesler Air Force Base, in Mississippi, departed today to fly weather missions for Tropical Storm Hilary to collect weather data that improves National Hurricane Center forecasts.
The "Hurricane Hunters," flew their first mission into the storm today.
Crews along with maintenance personnel are operating out of the Santa Maria Public Airport.
Satellites provide a lot of information about a storm; however, they don’t provide information about what’s happening inside of it.
This is where the Hurricane Hunters assist the NHC.
“By flying into the storm, crews are able to locate the low-pressure center of the storm and collect data that assists with movement and intensity forecasts,” said Lt. Col. Steve Burton, 53rd WRS mission commander for the weather deployment. “The data we collect can improve a forecast by anywhere from 15-25 percent.”
