Hurricane Hunters Track Hermine

Tropical Storm Hermine made hurricane status this afternoon as Hurricane Hunters were investigating the storm.
This storm is the first close call the Coast has seen this season. News 25’s Kristen Durand went along for the ride. She gives us a look at what it’s like to fly through the eye of a hurricane.
The newest version of the C130J Aircraft is one of ten identical Hurricane Hunter airplanes at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. Designed to fly 350 miles per hour at 35,000 feet, this plane took flight and headed straight for the eye of Hermine. Major Tobi Baker with the Hurricane Hunters Weather Office said, “From the plane we’re actually collecting a lot of information. We’ll actually go through the storm. We’ll mark the center point each time we go through and after a few of those, you kind of get a connect the dots feeling. You can actually get speed and direction at that time point.”
It was a bumpy ride out to the edge of the Florida Coast Thursday as the tropical storm upgraded to a Category One hurricane mid-flight. The green on the radar indicates the milder parts of the storm while red indicates the stronger portions. For this mission, the Hurricane Hunters flew 200 miles per hour at just 5,000 feet. Aircraft Commander Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Ragusa said, “So, they send us out just as low as we feel comfortable gathering data and then we also have means to gather information even below the airplane. We’re getting as real time as possible to allow the National Hurricane Center to better predict what that storm’s going to do.”
How do they gather all of that critical data? They use tools, such as a dropsonde. The dropsonde is loaded into a chute, launched into the Gulf and it measures things like wind speed, temperature and relative humidity. “We collect all that information, all of that gets pushed to the National Hurricane Center. They take that and turn it into the forecasts and stuff you see on the Coast,” said Major Baker.
Increasing the accuracy of forecast data by 28 to 30 percent, assisting emergency management services and alerts, increasing evacuation times and ultimately keeping you safe.