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The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known by its nickname, Hurricane Hunters, is a flying unit of the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
, and "the only
Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes." Aligned under the 403rd Wing of the
Air Force Reserve Command The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...
(AFRC) and based at
Keesler Air Force Base Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, a city along the Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2d Lt Samuel Reeves Keesler Jr., a Mississippi nati ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
, with ten aircraft, it flies into
tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...
s in the Atlantic Ocean, the
Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
, the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
and the Central Pacific Ocean for the specific purpose of directly measuring
weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...
data in and around those storms. The 53rd WRS currently operates the Lockheed WC-130J aircraft as its weather data collection platform. The squadron was activated in 1944 during World War II as the 3rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, tracking weather in the North Atlantic between North America and Europe. Redesignated the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron in 1945, the term "Hurricane Hunters" was first applied to its activities in 1946. The 53rd became a part of the USAF before its inactivation in 1947, was reactivated in 1951 as a long range weather reconnaissance unit based in
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
and England, and since 1963 has been based in the
southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...
or in
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
with its primary mission the measurement of tropical cyclones. The 53rd WRS moved to its present home station at Keesler AFB in 1973, and after being briefly inactivated again between 1991 and 1993, became an Air Force Reserve unit. The Hurricane Hunters of the Air Force Reserve are distinct from those of the
Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...
's
NOAA Hurricane Hunters The NOAA Hurricane Hunters are a group of aircraft used for hurricane reconnaissance by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They fly through hurricanes to help forecasters and scientists gather operational an ...
, based at
Lakeland Linder International Airport Lakeland Linder International Airport is a public airport five miles southwest of Lakeland, in Polk County, Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a na ...
, Florida, who use a pair of
Lockheed WP-3D Orion The Lockheed WP-3D Orion is a highly modified P-3 Orion used by the Aircraft Operations Center division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The aircraft are operated by officers of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. O ...
and a Gulfstream IV-SP aircraft to also fly weather reconnaissance, data collection and scientific research missions. In accordance with its memorandum of agreement with NOAA, AFRC maintains a capability in the 53rd WRS for five sorties per day from its home station and two deployed locations in support of requirements for the National Hurricane Operations Plan, or two sorties a day during winter storm seasons. The 53rd also provides a subunit, the Chief, Aerial Reconnaissance Coordination, All Hurricanes ("CARCAH"), at the
National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...
to coordinate the activities of both organizations., Appendix F. Concurrent with its operational mission, the 53rd WRS is also tasked with recruiting, organizing and training assigned personnel to perform aerial weather reconnaissance, and its air crews are qualified to handle tactical airlift missions.


History


Operational history


Hurricane hunting

Aerial reconnaissance of tropical storms first began in September 1935. In that year the
United States Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
decentralized its hurricane warning system, which depended to a great extent on reports from ships at sea, opening three warning centers in
San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
;
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
; and
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
. In August the Jacksonville center followed the progress of a developing hurricane east of the
Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
, determining that it would pass through the
Straits of Florida The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait () is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Florida Keys (U.S.) an ...
and strike the north coast of
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. It contacted the Cuban weather service when ship information was no longer available, but track of the storm was lost when the Cubans observed no evidence of it. Acting on a report from a
Pan American Airlines Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...
pilot, a weather observation flight was requested of the Cuban Army Air Corps and on 2 September 1935 its chief training pilot, American expatriate Capt. Leonard J. Povey, volunteered to locate the system. Although he was unable to penetrate the storm in his open-cockpit Curtiss Hawk II biplane, Povey provided information that indicated the hurricane was moving north into the
Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
. The destructiveness of the
1935 Labor Day hurricane The 1935 Labor Day hurricane was an extremely powerful and devastating Atlantic hurricane that struck the southeastern United States in early September 1935. For several decades, it was the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of ...
prompted Povey to recommend a regular aerial hurricane patrol. The 1943 Surprise Hurricane, which struck
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
during World War II, marked the first intentional meteorological flight into a hurricane. That summer, British pilots being trained as instrument instructor pilots at Bryan Army Airfield heard that the school was evacuating its
AT-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...
trainers in the face of the oncoming hurricane, and began teasing their instructors about the airworthiness of the aircraft. Instrument flying school commander
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Lt. Col. Joseph B. Duckworth, a former airline pilot with
Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...
who had developed instrument procedures for the carrier, bet his RAF students that he could safely fly into the storm and return. On 27 July 1943 he took out one of the trainers with 2nd Lt Ralph M. O'Hair navigating and flew it straight into the eye of the storm. After he returned safely, the base's only weather officer, 1st Lt William H. Jones-Burdick, took over the navigator's seat and Duckworth flew into the storm (now over land) a second time, this time recording their observations and measuring temperatures within the storm. The flights demonstrated that hurricane reconnaissance flights were feasible. 24 days later, on 19 August 1943, the AAF weather station at Waller Field,
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
, recorded unusually low pressures and received a similar report from Beane Field on
Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...
. Together with a report of high winds to the east from a U.S. Navy aircraft landing at Naval Operating Base Trinidad, the data prompted the first weather reconnaissance mission to locate a previously unreported tropical disturbance, which was flown the next morning. The flight, made by a
B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...
medium bomber assigned to the 25th Bombardment Group (an anti-submarine unit at nearby
Edinburgh Field Carlsen Air Force Base is a former United States Army Air Forces World War II airbase on Trinidad, consisting of two landing strips, "Edinburgh" and "Xeres". The airbase also included an emergency landing strip, "Tobago". History The Americ ...
), proceeded from Waller to
Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
and then due east at altitudes between into the heart of Hurricane III of 1943. Using standard navigational position fixes, the mission plotted observations inflight on a chart as they proceeded and transmitted them to Beane Field for relay to Waller and
Borinquen Field Ramey Air Force Base also known as Borinquen Field, is a former United States Air Force base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It was named after United States Army Air Forces Brigadier General Howard Knox Ramey. Following its closure, it was redevelo ...
,
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
.


53rd WRS history

The 53rd WRS was activated on 7 August 1944 at
Presque Isle Army Air Field ''Beautiful Minds'' () is a 2021 French-Swiss comedy-drama film directed by Bernard Campan and Alexandre Jollien. Cast * Bernard Campan as Louis Caretti * Alexandre Jollien as Igor * Marie Benati as la prostituée * Marilyne Canto as Judith ...
, Maine, originally as the 3 WRS. Many of its missions were flown from a forward base at
Gander, Newfoundland Gander is a town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately south of Gander Bay, south of Twillingate and east of Grand Falls-Windsor. Located on th ...
, using B-25s. Its original mission was to fly weather tracks along aircraft ferry routes between North America and Allied Western Europe. During the 1946 season, when the 53d WRS acquired the Boeing RB-29 (later
WB-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a United States Army Air Forces long range, strategic heavy bomber that was produced in many experimental and production models from 1943 to 1946. XB-29 : ''Section source: Baugher'' The XB-29, Boeing Model 345 ...
) Superfortress as its primary aircraft, the term "Hurricane Hunters" was first used to describe its missions. While not an ideal weather reconnaissance platform, the WB-29 proved to be comparatively safe and reliable. The first medium level penetration of a hurricane took place on 19 October 1947 by an RB-29 of the 53d WRS into Hurricane Love near Bermuda, validating penetration of tropical storms at lower altitudes as reasonably safe. From Gander, the squadron moved to New Hampshire; Florida; Kindley Field, Bermuda;
RAF Burtonwood Royal Air Force Burtonwood (or RAF Burtonwood) is a former Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces base that was located in Burtonwood, Northwest of Warrington in Cheshire, England. The base was opened in 1940 in response to World W ...
, England, with forward basing at
Dhahran Dhahran (, ) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, it is a major administrative center for the History of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, Saudi ...
, Saudi Arabia; Bermuda for a short time, and Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia. In 1966, now flying the
Lockheed WC-130 The Lockheed WC-130 is a high-wing, medium-range aircraft used for weather reconnaissance missions by the United States Air Force. The aircraft is a modified version of the C-130 Hercules transport configured with specialized weather instrumentat ...
, the 53rd WRS once again left the continental United States, this time for
Ramey Air Force Base Ramey Air Force Base also known as Borinquen Field, is a former United States Air Force base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It was named after United States Army Air Forces Brigadier General Howard Knox Ramey. Following its closure, it was redevel ...
, Puerto Rico. When Ramey closed in 1973, the Hurricane Hunters relocated to their present location at Keesler AFB, Mississippi. On 18 September 1953, while based at Kindley, Bermuda, the squadron suffered its only mission-related loss of an aircraft, a WB-29. Returning to base with a runaway propeller on the inboard engine of the right wing, the propeller separated from its shaft and struck the engine beside it, causing both the wing and outboard engine to catch fire. The pilot ordered an immediate bailout, but the aircraft went out of control and only three of the 10-man crew survived. In 1965 the 53rd WRS became the first squadron of the Air Weather Service to operate the WC-130 after its designation as such, and from Ramey flew the first WC-130 Hurricane Hunter mission on 27 August 1965, penetrating the eye of
Hurricane Betsy Hurricane Betsy was an intense, deadly and destructive tropical cyclone that brought widespread damage to areas of Florida, the Bahamas, and the central United States Gulf Coast in September 1965. The storm's erratic nature, coupled with ...
.Fuller, John F. (1990). ''Thor's Legions: Weather Support to the U.S. Air Force and Army, 1937–1987''. Boston, MA: American Meteorological Society. , p. 355 In the 1970s, after its move to Keesler, the 53rd participated in two "firsts" in the changing of regulations to permit women to be qualify as aircrew. Sgt. Vickiann Esposito became the first female dropsonde operator and possibly the first fully qualified aircrew member (excepting flight nurses) in Air Force history, approved by Headquarters Air Force in December 1973 as a waiver of the regulation prohibiting the assignment of women, over the initial objections of the commanding general of the Air Mobility Command. In October 1977, after the regulation had been rescinded, 1st Lt. Florence Fowler became one of the first two women to be rated as navigators (now combat systems officers). In 1976, the 815th Tactical Airlift Squadron of the Air Force Reserve, also based at Keesler, was redesignated the 815th Weather Squadron "Storm Trackers" and served as an associate squadron to the 53rd until 1987, when the 815th reverted to a tactical airlift unit because of reduced numbers of WC-130s. The Regular Air Force's 53rd WRS was inactivated in June 1991 for budgetary reasons and its assets and personnel transferred to the 815th TAS, which formed a flight to assume the weather recon mission while continuing its airlift role as well. On 1 November 1993, as a result of the impact of
Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a compact, but very powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures dama ...
the year before, the 53rd WRS was reactivated as a full-time Air Force Reserve squadron to take over the weather reconnaissance mission from the 815th AS. The WC-130H airframes flown by the 53rd WRS were originally built in 1964–65 as C-130Es. Hurricane Andrew had also demonstrated a need for upgraded models to continue the Hurricane Hunter mission, and funding for ten replacements was authorized by Congress in FY1998. On 11 October 1999, the 53rd WRS received its first Lockheed WC-130, and flew its first hurricane mission in the new model on 16 November, into
Hurricane Lenny Hurricane Lenny was the strongest November Atlantic hurricane since the 1932 Cuba hurricane. It was the sixteenth tropical cyclone, twelfth named storm, eighth hurricane, and record-breaking fifth Category 4 hurricane in the 1999 Atlan ...
. Problems with the new model, primarily damage to its
composite material A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...
6-bladed propellers from hail and ice and a lack of sensitivity in its color radar images, delayed its Initial Operational Capability until just before the 2005 hurricane season. The propeller problem was overcome by bonding a metal sleeve to the leading edge of each blade and the radar issue by changes in the radar software coding., notes 10–11 While in conversion to the new airframe, the unit continued its mission of aerial weather reconnaissance and added a new weather-related mission type in 2003, using the WC-130Js to drop buoys ahead of impending tropical storms. In 2004, the unit started training to support tactical airlift missions in addition to its weather mission. The landfall of
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
on 29 August 2005 caused devastating damage to Keesler. An estimated one-third of the members of the parent 403rd Wing lost a home or had it extensively damaged. Yet the equipment and personnel of the squadron, flying out of
Dobbins Air Reserve Base Dobbins Air Reserve Base or Dobbins ARB is a United States Air Force reserve air base located in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb about northwest of Atlanta. Originally known as Dobbins Air Force Base, it was named in honor of Captain Charles M ...
near
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
when the hurricane struck, never missed a tasked mission during Katrina or follow-up storms. The operations of the 53rd WRS were affected by the federal budget sequestration of 2013. Furloughs of personnel, amounting to two days in every pay period per member, resulted in a 20% cut in capability, according to the wing commander of the 403rd Wing on 24 July 2013. While sequestration was in effect, this meant the squadron was capable of working only two storms simultaneously at full mission scheduling instead of the normal three, and that pace sustainable only for five or six days.


Hurricane Hunter mission

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, using the call signs ''Teal 70'' to ''Teal 79'', flies missions into
hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...
and weather systems for research purposes and observation. Although satellite data has revolutionized
weather forecast Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for thousands of years an ...
ers' ability to detect early signs of tropical cyclones before they form, there are still many important tasks for which this information is not suitable. Satellites cannot determine the interior
barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013.2 ...
of a hurricane, nor provide accurate wind speed information. These data are needed to accurately predict hurricane development and movement. Because satellites cannot collect the data and ships are too slow and vulnerable, the only viable way to collect this information is with aircraft. Meteorological parameters measured, in order of priority, are: * Geographical position of the flight level vortex center (vortex fix) and relative position of the surface center, if known; * Center sea-level pressure determined by
dropsonde A dropsonde is an expendable weather reconnaissance device created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), designed to be dropped from an aircraft at altitude over water to measure (and therefore track) storm conditions as the dev ...
or extrapolation from within of the sea surface or from the computed 925
hPa The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the unit of pressure in the International System of Units (SI). It is also used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus, and ultimate tensile strength. The unit, named after Blaise Pascal, is an S ...
, 850 hPa, or 700 hPa height; * Minimum 700, 850 or 925 hPa
height Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is). For an example of vertical extent, "This basketball player is 7 foot 1 inches in height." For an e ...
, if available; * Wind data (continuous observations along the flight track) for surface and flight level; * Surface wind data from Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR); * High density three-dimensional Doppler radial velocities of the tropical cyclone core circulation; * Temperature at flight level; * Rain rate from SFMR; *
Sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the ocean temperature, temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea ...
; and * Dew-point temperature at flight level. The 53rd WRS is equipped with ten pallet-instrumented WC-130J aircraft to collect the required meteorological data. The area of responsibility for the "Hurricane Hunters" is from midway through the Atlantic Ocean west to the
Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...
, although they have also been tasked to fly into typhoons in the Pacific Ocean on occasion, as well as gather data in winter storms. The Hurricane Hunters are tasked to support 24-hour-a-day continuous operations with the ability to fly to up to 3 storms at a time with a response time of 16 hours. This necessitates a mission organization of ten full-time aircrews and ten part-time. The WC-130J employs a standard five person crew element of a pilot, co-pilot, Combat Systems Officer (CSO), aerial reconnaissance weather officer (ARWO), and a weather loadmaster/dropsonde operator, with a second loadmaster assigned when required. The ARWO is the flight meteorologist and acts as flight director inside the storm system. Operational crews train twice monthly at Keesler AFB and fly weather recon missions when available. 53rd WRS pilots and loadmasters go through their initial C-130J training at the
314th Airlift Wing The 314th Airlift Wing (314 AW) is a wing (air force unit), wing of the United States Air Force based at Little Rock Air Force Base in Little Rock, Arkansas. Its mission is to carry out Lockheed C-130 Hercules combat airlift training. The wing ...
's tactical airlift training center at
Little Rock Air Force Base Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas. The facility covers 6,217 acres (2,516 ha) with a resident population of over 3,300 and working population of approximate ...
, Arkansas. CSOs and ARWOs from the 53rd WRS have no formal school and train in-house at Keesler utilizing an
Air Education and Training Command The Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine List of major commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was esta ...
-approved syllabus for their specialized mission training. The 53rd WRS uses Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix as its primary forward-deployed location for North Atlantic basin operations. Each May since 1996, when it switched operations from
Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...
to the
U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...
to operate from U.S. soil, the squadron prepositions maintenance equipment and materiel at Rohlsen in preparation for the coming season. From July through September three crews are commonly forward-deployed to St. Croix at any given time with rotations of a week's deployment per month. p. 1 Since 1969, the 53rd WRS also performs winter storm weather reconnaissance off both coasts of the United States between 1 November and 15 April in support of the
National Centers for Environmental Prediction The United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) delivers national and global weather, water, climate, and space weather guidance, forecasts, warnings, and analyses to government agencies and private users. The centers f ...
. These missions are flown at the WC-130's service ceiling of , which subjects them to turbulence, lightning and icing. The crews collect data ahead of weather systems, dropping
weather buoy Weather buoys are instruments which collect weather and ocean data within the world's oceans, as well as aid during emergency response to chemical spills, legal proceedings, and engineering design. Moored buoys have been in use since 1951, whil ...
s along their routes, before they move off the eastern seaboard to help determine if the conditions are right to intensify into
Nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...
blizzards. In 1997 and 1998, the Hurricane Hunters also flew winter storms in the
Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska ( Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the ...
. The predetermined tracks are six to eleven hours in duration, with one to three missions flown per major winter storm event. Coverage of winter storms in the eastern Pacific has become standard during the month of February, operating TDY from either
Elmendorf AFB Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) facility in Anchorage, Alaska. Originally known as Elmendorf Field, it became Elmendorf Air Force Base after World War II. It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command ( ...
, Alaska, or Hickam AFB, Hawaii. The 53rd WRS works closely with the
National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...
(NHC), a division of the
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
(NWS) located in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, that tracks hurricanes to provide early warning service for
Atlantic basin The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
storms. It maintains a subunit, the ''Chief, Aerial Reconnaissance Coordination, All Hurricanes'' (CARCAH), at the NHC as a point-of-contact and provides the staff and equipment to coordinate Department of Commerce requirements for hurricane data, assign weather reconnaissance missions and monitor all data transmitted from weather reconnaissance aircraft of DOC and the 53rd WRS. To that end CARCAH is responsible for producing, publishing, and coordinating the Tropical Cyclone Plan of the Day (TCPOD) during hurricane season. The 53rd WRS maintains similarly configured
satellite communications A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. ...
ground station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fr ...
s within CARCAH at the NHC and its facility at Keesler to receive and process data from the aircraft. The Keesler ground station is maintained as a backup to the primary system at NHC, which has greater
data stream In connection-oriented communication, a data stream is the transmission of a sequence of digitally encoded signals to convey information. Typically, the transmitted symbols are grouped into a series of packets. Data streaming has become u ...
ing capability, and would be manned by CARCAH personnel in the event of a long-term satellite communications failure at NHC. During temporary outages, 53rd personnel at Keesler act as operators and relay data from the aircraft by land line to the CARCAH ground station. Processed data is transmitted to the Weather Product Management and Distribution System (WPMDS) of the
Air Force Weather Agency An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...
at
Offutt AFB Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the ...
,
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
, which then relays it to the NWS Telecommunication Gateway at
Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...
, for worldwide distribution. The Keesler site has direct communications capability with WPMDS in the event of land line/internet failure between Keesler and the NHC. The system also provides backup transmission paths to WPMDS using local NHC servers and satellite connection to Keesler in the event of internet outages, except if an outage originates at Offutt.


Tropical cyclone operational profiles

When a tropical disturbance becomes suspect for development as a tropical or subtropical cyclone, the NHC assigns the system a temporary tracking ("Investigation") number and requests the 53rd WRS to determine if the winds are blowing in a counterclockwise rotation, indicating a "closed cyclonic circulation". This investigative mission is flown at an altitude of above the ocean surface in a pattern designated by the ARWO aboard the mission WC-130 based on observed conditions. The ARWO, using a stepped-frequency microwave radiometer (SFMR, or "smurf"), continuously monitors ocean waves to determine wind speed and direction. The low-level wind and pressure fields provide an accurate picture for NHC forecasters. Investigative missions are usually flown during daylight and may be timed to arrive in the investigative area at first light in the morning or last light in the evening. Weak pressure gradients, large areas of calm, and light winds in areas of heavy convective activity often make vortex fixes difficult to obtain in areas of weak circulation, challenging the skills of the crews. Once NHC determines that there is circulation within the disturbance, the mission becomes a sequentially numbered "fix" mission, conducted initially every six hours by rotating flights in cooperation with NOAA missions, and then at three-hour intervals as the storm moves within specified parameters. During the "fix" mission, the ARWO directs the aircraft to the true center or ''vortex'' of the storm by monitoring the radar presentation, temperature, pressure, and mapping the wind fields as the aircraft makes left-hand turns. Vortices determined by individual parameters including visual observation may not coincide at the same geographic location. Surface and upper-level centers may be displaced by many miles. In order to make a reliable evaluation of its size and configuration, the crew flies through the disturbance using "Flight Pattern Alpha" consisting of intercardinal headings with legs in length. The Alpha pattern is repeated at least twice during the mission, which will typically see a penetration of the eye of the system four times. Patterns may also be adjusted to meet circumstances encountered in the system. In August 2011, as
Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth tropical cyclone naming, named storm, first hurricane, and first major ...
neared the
Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Eastern Shore of Virginia. The peninsula is l ...
between landfalls, a 53rd WRS ARWO directed a pattern with shorter legs and more rapid turnarounds because of the proximity of land, making seven center fixes in one flight. Flight weather data is continuously collected and sent directly to the NHC by satellite communications. Since the WC-130J is not equipped for aerial refueling, the alpha pattern continues until minimum fuel reserve is reached, or until the NHC has received all the data it requires. Major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher in the
Saffir–Simpson scale The Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS) is a tropical cyclone intensity scale that classifies hurricanes—which in the Western Hemisphere are tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical sto ...
) are entered at approximately altitude. While penetrating the
eyewall The eye is a region of mostly calm weather at the center of a tropical cyclone. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weath ...
, a dropsonde is released to determine the
maximum sustained wind The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone is a common indicator of the intensity of the storm. Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a certain distance from the center, known as the radius of ma ...
s at the surface and a second dropsonde is released in the
eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...
to detect the lowest pressure at the surface. After exiting the eye, the ARWO creates a Vortex Data Message that includes the precise latitude and longitude of the storm center as well as its maximum winds, maximum temperature, and minimum sea level pressure. The average duration of a "Hurricane Hunter" mission is ten hours, with five to six hours on station, depending on the distance of the storm from base, when tasked to perform three fixes at three-hour intervals.


Lineage

* Constituted as the 3rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Air Route, Medium on 7 August 1944 : Activated on 31 August 1944 : Redesignated 3rd Reconnaissance Squadron, Weather, Heavy on 26 January 1945 : Redesignated 53rd Reconnaissance Squadron, Long Range, Weather on 15 June 1945 : Redesignated 53rd Reconnaissance Squadron, Very Long Range, Weather on 27 November 1945 : Inactivated on 15 October 1947 * Redesignated 53rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Medium, Weather on 22 January 1951 : Activated on 21 February 1951 : Redesignated 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron on 15 February 1954 : Discontinued on 18 March 1960 * Organized on 8 January 1962 : Inactivated on 30 June 1991 * Activated in the reserve on 1 November 1993


Assignments

* North Atlantic Division, Air Transport Command, 31 August 1944 *
Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies a ...
, 12 January 1945 * 311th Photographic Wing (later 311th Reconnaissance Wing), 15 February 1945 * Air Transport Command, 13 March 1946 *
Air Weather Service An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...
, 20 March 1946 – 15 October 1947 * 2108th Air Weather Group, 21 February 1951 * Air Weather Service, 2 May 1951 * 9th Weather Group, 20 April 1953 * 2058th Air Weather Wing, 25 November 1953 * 2d Weather Wing, 8 February 1954 – 18 March 1960 * 9th Weather Reconnaissance Group, 8 January 1962 * 9th Weather Reconnaissance Wing, 1 July 1965 * 41st Rescue and Weather Reconnaissance Wing, 1 September 1975 * Air Rescue Service, 1 August 1989 – 30 June 1991 * 403rd Operations Group, 1 November 1993 – present


Stations

* Presque Isle Army Air Field, Maine, 31 August 1944 *
Grenier Field Grenier is a surname. It is a French word for ''attic, loft,'' or ''granary''. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Grenier * Angèle Grenier, Canadian maple syrup producer * Auguste Jean François Grenier (1814–1890), French docto ...
, New Hampshire, 9 November 1944 * Morrison Field, Florida, 8 November 1946 – 21 July 1947 * Kindley Field,
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
, 17 August – 15 Oct 1947 * Kindley Air Force Base, Bermuda, 21 February 1951 – 5 November 1953 * Burtonwood Air Depot (later RAF Burtonwood), England, 7 November 1953 *
RAF Alconbury Royal Air Force Alconbury, or more simply RAF Alconbury, is an active Royal Air Force station near Huntingdon, England, that for many years was used by the USAF. The airfield is in the civil parish of The Stukeleys, close to the villages of G ...
, England, 25 April 1959 *
RAF Mildenhall Royal Air Force Mildenhall, or more simply RAF Mildenhall , is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Mildenhall, Suffolk, Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a List of Royal Air Force stations, ...
, England, 10 August 1959 – 18 March 1960 * Kindley Air Force Base, Bermuda, 8 January 1962 – 1 July 1963 * Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, 31 August 1963 *
Ramey Air Force Base Ramey Air Force Base also known as Borinquen Field, is a former United States Air Force base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It was named after United States Army Air Forces Brigadier General Howard Knox Ramey. Following its closure, it was redevel ...
,
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, 15 June 1966 * Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, 1 July 1973 – 30 June 1991 * Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, 1 November 1993 – present


Aircraft

* Boeing RB-17 Flying Fortress (1945–1946) * Boeing TB-17 Flying Fortress (1945–1947) *
North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allies of World War ...
(1946–1947) * North American WB-25D Mitchell (1944, 1946–1947) * Boeing B-29 Superfortress (1946–1947) * Boeing WB-29A Superfortress (1951–1956) *
Boeing WB-50D Superfortress The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is a retired American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin, ...
(1956–1960, 1962–1963) *
Boeing WB-47E Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-Range (aeronautics), range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic flight, subsonic speed and at high altitude ...
(1963–1969) * Lockeed C-130 Hercules (1965) * Lockeed WC-130A/B/E/H Hercules (1965–1991, 1993–2006) * Lockeed RC-130 (1974-1975) * Lockeed HC-130 Hercules (1976) * Lockheed WC-130J Hercules (1999–present)Not including series, aircraft in Robertson, Factsheet 53 Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (AFRC), except as noted.


Awards


Cable television series

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel ...
announced in January 2012 that it would be presenting a six-episode docu-reality series (''Hurricane Hunters'') in July 2012 depicting the operations of the 53rd WRS during the 2011 hurricane season. However even before its debut, the series and its network were beset by controversy when a 53rd WRS member, Major (then Captain) Nicole L. Mitchell, an ARWO and an on-camera meteorologist for TWC from July 2004 to January 2011, revealed on 4 June 2012 that she had filed suit 9 September 2011 in the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (in case citations, N.D. Ga.) is a United States district court which serves the residents of forty-six counties. These are divided up into four divisions. Appeals from case ...
against The Weather Channel and its owners,
NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...
and two private equity firms,
Bain Capital Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...
and the
Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman ...
, claiming that the termination of her employment in 2010 was based on her part-time Air Force Reserve service, was discriminatory and was in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994. A second nine-segment season, filmed in August and October 2012, aired on The Weather Channel beginning in June 2013. Mitchell subsequently became the Chief Meteorologist at
Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazee ...
and after September 2015 became the only remaining Air Force meteorologist with personal experience flying through Hurricane Katrina.


See also

*
Storm chasing Storm chasing is broadly defined as the deliberate pursuit of any severe weather phenomenon, regardless of motive, but most commonly for curiosity, adventure, scientific investigation, or for news or media coverage. A person who chases stor ...


Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations'


References

*Fuller, John F. (1990). ''Thor's Legions: Weather Support to the U.S. Air Force and Army, 1937–1987''. Boston, MA: American Meteorological Society. * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*
National Hurricane Operations Plan 2015
Published May 2015. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with Aircraft Reconnaissance Operations
403rd Wing official website

Hurricane Hunter Weather Equipment Fact Sheet

53d WRS image gallery (USAF)

National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Hunters Association homepage

AF Reserve Hurricane Hunters
Facebook page maintained by 403rd Wing Public Affairs Office
Air Weather Reconnaissance Association homepage


– USA Today – sidebar, "Fatal flights" {{Air Force Weather nav Tropical cyclone meteorology United States special-purpose aircraft Military units and formations in Mississippi Weather 053
053 53 may refer to: * 53 (number) * one of the years 53 BC, AD 53, 1953, 2053 * FiftyThree, an American privately held technology company that specializes in tools for mobile creation and visual thinking * 53rd Regiment Alabama Cavalry * 53rd Regiment ...