Aircrews from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" flew their WC-130J aircraft southwest of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, over the Pacific Ocean to gather storm data from Hurricane Blanca.
The Hurricane Hunters flew their three missions into the storm with their first flight June 5 and their second flight June 6, with a third one scheduled for June 7. This was the first Pacific storm flown by the 53rd WRS for the 2015 Hurricane Season.
According to National Hurricane Center reports, as of June 6 the system was currently moving northwest toward the peninsula at 10 mph with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, topping it out a Category 4 hurricane.
The Hurricane Hunters flew two passes through the hurricane June 5 to gather storm data, said Lt. Col. John Fox, 53rd WRS chief navigator.
"(We) gather data (for the NHC) to determine how strong the storm is going to be when it strikes land so (the NHC) can issue landfall warnings and people can be evacuated, if necessary," said Fox.
1st Lt. Leesa Froelich, 53rd WRS aerial reconnaissance weather officer, said Hurricane Hunter crews deployed dropsondes from the WC-130J aircraft into the storms to collect weather data such as current pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction.
The Hurricane Hunters receive their storm taskings for collecting weather data from the National Hurricane Center, said Froelich, and storm data gathered is sent every 10 minutes to the National Hurricane Center for NHC personnel use in increasing the accuracy of their storm tracking models.
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