Hurricane Hunters fly year's first storm mission over Atlantic

The Hurricane Hunters answer the call to an early kickoff of this year's hurricane season, which arrived nearly a month early with the development of Subtropical Storm Andrea off the coast of Georgia. This year, the state-of-the-art WC-130J aircraft will be equipped with the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer which allows the Citizen Airman of the Hurricane Hunters to constantly measure surface winds directly below the aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. James Pritchett)

Hurricane Hunters fly into Flossie with ‘smurf’

Published Aug. 14, 2007

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Air Force Reserve Command's Hurricane Hunters flew a WC-130J with wind-measuring 'smurf" equipment into a hurricane for the first time Aug. 13.

Reservists on the aircraft recorded Hurricane Flossie's minimum central pressure at 28.62 inches. The Pacific Ocean storm was moving northwest at 15 mph, with sustained winds at 140 mph.

Officials in the Central Pacific Hurricane Center expected the storm to affect the islands Aug. 14, passing just south of them a few days later. Another reconnaissance mission was scheduled on the night of Aug. 13. Members of the unit said they would continue rotating aircraft through the storm until it was no longer a threat.

The 2007 season started with Sub-Tropical Storm Andrea on May 9. Since then, the season has been slow, allowing more aircraft to be equipped with the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer, affectionately called the 'smurf'.

The radiometer allows crews from Keesler AFB's 403rd Wing to constantly measure surface winds directly below the aircraft. The SFMR can also determine rainfall rates within a storm system. This, in addition to wind speeds at flight level, provides structural detail of the storm.

"The SFMR will be the biggest advance I can think of to improve hurricane intensity forecasts," said Max Mayfield, former director of the National Hurricane Center.

The data collected by the Hurricane Hunters increase the accuracy of the NHC forecast by 30 percent. Experts anticipate the accuracy will increase with more use of the SFMR. This data enables NHC to more accurately predict the path of storms in order to save lives and narrow areas of evacuation, according to NHC forecasters.

Wing officials project equipping one WC-130J aircraft with the SFMR each month until all 10 WC-130J aircraft are outfitted with the SFMR pod. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)