KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- A 53rd
Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunter" aircrew flew their WC-130J
aircraft off the western central coast of Mexico over the Pacific Ocean to
gather storm data from Hurricane Patricia Oct. 22-23.
The data collected by the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters
classified Hurricane Patricia as the strongest storm ever recorded in the NHC's
area of operations, which ranges from the 55 longitude line in the Atlantic to
the International Dateline in the Pacific, according to John Pavone, a
supervisory meteorologist and aircraft coordinator with the Chief, Aerial
Reconnaissance Coordination All Hurricanes cell in the National
Hurricane Center.
The NHC tasked the 53d WRS Hurricane Hunters Oct. 21 to fly the tropical disturbance, which had developed into a strong Category V by
the time the crew took off Thursday at 7 p.m.
"We knew that we were
headed into a large and powerful storm, and we were expecting an eventful
flight," said Capt. Chase Allen, the aircraft commander and pilot for the
mission. "This was definitely the most intense storm I have ever experienced.
The storm was intensifying while we were in it, and it caused us to get bumped
around a good bit."
During the hurricane, the 53rd WRS aircrew passed
through the eye of the storm three times. During each pass through the eye, they
released a dropsonde, a meteorological instrument that collects temperature,
wind speed, wind direction, humidity, and barometric pressure data as it
descended to the ocean surface. The aircraft also collected surface wind speed
and flight-level data. This information is transmitted to the NHC every 10
minutes to assist them with their forecasts and storm warnings, which are used
not only by the United States, but by governments in the Caribbean and
Mexico.
"Our mission was to go in and find the eye and gather the data
needed for the NHC," said Lt. Leesa Froelich, a 53rd WRS aerial reconnaissance
weather officer for the Patricia mission. "We found that the barometric pressure
was 880 millibars and wind speeds were up to 205 mph."
According to the
NHC, the members of the 53rd WRS were instrumental in their predictions of the
storm, which made landfall Friday evening as a Category 5 storm along the coast
of southwestern Mexico near Cuixmala, an area with few population
centers.
"Thank you Air Force Hurricane Hunters. Without your data, we
would never have known just how strong Patricia was," said Dr. Rick Knabb,
director, NHC.
Once the Government of Mexico received the updated
warnings, they began an evacuation of nearly 50,000 citizens and tourists in
harm's way.
President Enrique Peña Nieto said he believed that previous
severe weather situations are the reason the evacuations and preparations went
smoothly.
"Each of these episodes that we've experienced has allowed us
each time to improve our system of civil protection," said the Mexican president
during a press conference following initial landfall of Patricia.
The
53rd WRS is the only Department of Defense organization that flies into tropical
storms and hurricanes, a mission that began in 1944. While other C-130 units
receive taskings from the geographic combatant commander they support or the Air
Force Reserve Command for training missions, the 53rd WRS receives their
taskings from the National Hurricane Center, a Department of Commerce
agency.
Through an interagency agreement, tropical weather reconnaissance
is governed by the National Hurricane Operations Plan, which requires the
squadron to support 24-hour a day continuous operations with the ability to fly
up to three storms simultaneously and with a response time of 16
hours.
This year, the 53rd WRS has flown 36 missions to collect forecast
data with a record number of central pacific storm missions. The Hurricane
Hunters will stand ready for any requirements throughout the tropical weather
season. The official end to the hurricane season is Nov. 30.
USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)