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Hurricane Hunters patrol Gustav from Homestead Air Reserve Base

  • Published
  • By the 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" are flying daily weather reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Gustav from Homestead Air Reserve Base to aid the National Weather Service in providing the storm's projected path to the American public.

The squadron, a component of the 403rd Wing located at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., is the only operational unit in the world flying weather reconnaissance on a routine basis. They provide surveillance of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Central Pacific for the National Hurricane Center. The unit also flies winter storm missions off both coasts of the United States

This month, the Hurricane Hunters have also flown missions into Tropical Storm Fay, Tropical Storm Edouard and Hurricane Dolly to provide critical, real-time storm data to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

For more information on the Hurricane Hunters, please contact the 403rd Wing's Public Affairs Office at (228) 377-2056.