Hurricane Hunters fly year's first storm mission over Atlantic Published May 9, 2007 KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The 2007 Atlantic Ocean hurricane season got off to an early start for Keesler's Hurricane Hunters. Flying a specially equipped WC-130 aircraft, they tracked their first tropical disturbance off the coast of Georgia early May 9. Timing of the mission was reminiscent of the early start of the 2005 hurricane season. That record-breaking season began May 20 with Tropical Storm Adrian. Storm seasons officially start June 1. Data collected this year by the Hurricane Hunters resulted in the National Hurricane Center giving the storm a name. The Hurricane Hunters recorded Subtropical Storm Andrea's minimum central pressure at 29.62 inches, moving west at 3 mph with sustained winds at 45 mph extending outward up to 115 miles. National Hurricane Center officials did not expect the storm to move much within the first 24 hours. Another reconnaissance mission was scheduled May 10. The Air Force Reserve Command's 403rd Wing will continue rotating aircraft through the storm until it reaches land or is no longer a threat. As this year's storm season progresses, the state-of-the-art WC-130J aircraft will be equipped with a Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer. The SFMR allows the crew to constantly measure surface winds directly below the aircraft. The radiometer can also determine rainfall rates within a storm system. This information 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. Information collected by the Hurricane Hunters increase the accuracy of the National Hurricane Center's forecasts by as much as 30 percent. This data enables the National Hurricane Center to predict more accurately the path of storms in order to save lives and narrow areas of evacuation, said center forecasters. They expect the accuracy of their forecasts to increase with the use of the SFMR. Two Hurricane Hunter aircraft will be equipped with the radiometers by the end of June with one added each month until all of the 403rd Wing's 10 WC-130J aircraft are outfitted with the SFMR pod. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service from a 403rd Wing news release)