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During each hurricane season, we're used to watching for news of a storm developing in the Atlantic that might head this way. And when one does, we watch with trepidation as the forecast models show us that cone of probability – the potential track a storm might take toward landfall.
That's just part of life here in Greater Houston. But the data informing those predictions has to come from somewhere. And a lot of it comes from NOAA's Hurricane Hunters. Those are the pilots, aircraft, and researchers that fly into storms to measure their conditions up close.
A pair of those aircraft, a WP-3D Orion and a WC130-J Hercules, and some of their crew members were at Ellington Field in Clear Lake on May 1 for NOAA’s annual hurricane preparedness tour.
PHOTOS: Inside NOAA’s Hurricane Hunter Aircraft
- One of NOAA's WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft nicknamed Miss Piggy. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
- Stickers on the side of one of NOAA's WP-3D Orion aircraft showing which hurricanes and tropical storms it's flown through since the 1970s. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
- The tube from which dropsondes are released into storms from NOAA's WP-3D Hurricane Hunter aircraft. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
- The navigator station on board a WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
- A seat on a WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
- Flight engineer Daniel Tyson in the cockpit of one of NOAA's WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
- A WC-130J Hercules that's one of NOAA's Hurricane Hunter aircraft. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
- One of the propellers on a WC-130J Hercules Hurricane Hunter aircraft. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
- NOAA Hurricane Hunter Jay Latham examines one of the devices called dropsondes that he and his fellow researchers release from aircraft into storms to take measurements of conditions. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
- A closeup of a device called a dropsonde that NOAA's Hurricane Hunters release from aircraft into storms to take measurements of conditions. Each one costs around $900. During each mission, an aircraft can drop anywhere from 15-20 of these mini weather stations. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media)
So, what’s it like fliying right through a hurricane or tropical storm? Samantha Timmers, a support meteorologist, has a way of describing it.
“Imagine you’re riding on a wooden rollercoaster through a car wash,” she said.
And that seems like an apt description. NOAA flight engineer Daniel Tyson says he made himself ride actual rollercoasters to acclimate his body to the experience.
“I’m actually, one, afraid of rollerscoasters,” he said. “So, to try to get back in that body mindset, it was just a lot of forcing myself to get on rollercoasters.”
In the audio above, Houston Matters producer Michael Hagerty takes us inside the aircraft and learns from their crew what it’s like to experience a major storm up close.
