Hurricane hunter aircraft to be stationed in Barbados as Danny approaches

hurricane hunter
As Tropical Storm Danny is expected to become the Atlantic’s first hurricane by Thursday, the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Hurricane Hunter aircraft will land in Barbados on Thursday, in order to fly missions on Friday, and into next week to gather more data about the hurricane.

Weather reports indicate that the hurricane is expected to approach the Eastern Caribbean by early Monday.

The Hurricane Hunters are special aircraft used by the NOAA to conduct research to support its mission of predicting changes in earth’s environment, and managing coastal and marine resources.

The crews fly through hurricanes to help forecasters and scientists gather operational and research data. They fly two types of aircraft, the Lockheed WP-3Orion, and the Gulfstream IV-SP, and are home-based at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

The WP-3s are designed to tolerate large amounts of damage since they are the aircraft that actually fly into the eye of hurricanes. They are also equipped to take atmospheric measurements.

One of the most distinct parts of the WP-3 is the giant circular black belly radar. Meanwhile, the G-IV jet flies around the periphery of both tropical and winter storms, including hurricanes.

It flies high, fast, and far, with a range of 4,000 nautical miles, and a cruising altitude of 45,000 feet. The G-IV jet paints a detailed picture of weather systems in the upper atmosphere surrounding developing hurricanes. This information is used to help predict the path of hurricanes.

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3 Comments

  1. August 21, 2015

    travel mercy guys. may the Almighty lead the way.

  2. Really
    August 20, 2015

    They’re not trying to stop mother nature. They try to predict the path so people are aware of where the hurricane will hit. God isn’t telling us where it’s going to land, it’s technology.

  3. August 19, 2015

    Its all good. But no one can stop mother nature, therefore, the best is to pray for protection from the hurricane and all natral and man made diasters. God is good all the time, all the time God is Good.

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