Hurricane Hunters

Flying into the storm

Satellites watch from space; aircraft fly straight through the eyewall to measure what’s inside.

The planes

NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters fly into hurricanes. Their two WP-3D Orion planes are nicknamed “Kermit” and “Miss Piggy”. NOAA Aircraft Operations: Hurricane Hunters

A four-propeller grey and white aircraft flying above the clouds — “Miss Piggy”, one of NOAA’s two WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft.Photo: NOAA, Public domain, Commons

A Hurricane Hunter mission lasts 8–10 hours: through the eyewall into the calm of the eye, again and again. NOAA Aircraft Operations: Hurricane Hunters

Reconnaissance flights mainly find the centre of the storm and measure the central pressure and surface winds around the eye. NOAA Aircraft Operations: Hurricane Hunters

Scientists on board drop GPS dropwindsondes, which send back pressure, humidity, temperature and wind as they fall towards the sea. NOAA Aircraft Operations: Hurricane Hunters

NOAA’s Gulfstream IV-SP jet flies high around the storm, cruising at 45,000 ft, to map the winds that steer it. NOAA Aircraft Operations: Hurricane Hunters

Looking out from an aircraft window into the eye of a hurricane, ringed by walls of cloud — Inside the eye of Hurricane Milton, 9 October 2024, from a NOAA aircraft.Photo: Lieutenant Commander Andrew Utama/NOAA Corps, Public domain, Commons

Watching from space

NOAA’s GOES weather satellites, built by NASA, watch hurricanes from 22,300 miles above Earth. NASA Space Place: How do hurricanes form?

Infrared satellite pictures show the temperature of cloud tops: the colder the top, the higher the cloud reaches. NOAA JetStream: Tropical cyclone introduction

Only since satellite pictures arrived in the 1960s have we been able to count, track and watch these storms properly across the oceans. NOAA JetStream: Tropical cyclone introduction

Forecasting

The US National Hurricane Center forecasts all tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and the north-east Pacific east of 140°W. National Hurricane Center: FAQ

Once a tropical depression is spotted, forecasters send out a series of advisories giving its expected track and strength. Met Office: Tropical cyclone warnings

After a hurricane passes, the sea behind it is cooler, because the storm has taken heat from the ocean. NOAA JetStream: Tropical cyclone introduction

A view from a plane across the clear eye of a hurricane, with towering cloud walls all round — The eye of Hurricane Katrina, seen from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft, 2005.Photo: NOAA, Public domain, Commons

Next: around the world →