Hurricane Hunters fly into Alberto

Hurricane season is just days away, but with Alberto moving through the Gulf Coast this past weekend, Hurricane Hunters had an early start to the season.

News 25’s Payton Malone went to Keesler Air Force Base this afternoon and talked with a meteorologist who flew into Alberto.

Tropical cyclones often form hundreds of miles away from the United States. Without direct measurements from the storm, it’s extremely difficult to forecast where they will go and that’s where the Hurricane Hunters come into play. Hurricane Hunter Meteorologist Christopher Dyke said, “A lot of time the data we provide during the weak stage helps give models an early indication as to what it is going to do when it gets into those more favorable environments.”

As meteorologists tried to pin down where Alberto would make landfall this holiday weekend, Hurricane Hunters were flying through the storm relaying valuable information as the storm moved closer to the Gulf Coast. “So over the ocean we don’t have a lot of observations to work off of to see the actual measurement of how strong a storm is.”

For people at home, a busy season is usually based off how many watches and warnings the National Hurricane Center issues, but for Hurricane Hunters it is how many days they’re away from home and how much paint is peeled off the plane by the end of the season.

An early storm like Alberto doesn’t necessarily mean an active season, but regardless the Hurricane Hunters will be ready to punch through the next storm on a moment’s notice. “From our perspective, it’s plan for the worst and hope for the best. We can’t afford to not be prepared when storm season rolls around because if we’re not prepared then that is ultimately what leads to millions of people on the Coast line not being prepared.”