Coastwatch 



COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Managing Editor 

 Katie Mosher 



Senior Editors 

 Kathleen Angione 

 Ann Green 



Contributing Editors 

 Jamie Harris 

 E-Ching Lee 

 Erin Selling 

 Pani Smith 



Designer 

 Linda Noble 



Circulation Manager 

 Sandra Harris 



The North Carolina Sea Grant College Program 



is a federal/state program that promotes 

 stewardship of our coastal and marine resources 



through research, extension and education. 

 It joined the National Sea Grant College Network 

 in 1970 as an institutional program. Six years later. 



it was designated a Sea Grant College. 

 Today. North Carolina Sea Grant supports research 

 projects, a 1 5-memher extension program and a 

 communications staff. Ron Hodson is director. 

 The program is funded by the U.S. Department 

 of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration and the state through the 

 University of North Carolina. 

 CoastwatchQSSN 1068-784X) 

 is published six times a year by the 

 North Carolina Sea Grant College Program. 

 North Carolina State University. Box 8605. 

 Raleigh. North Carolina 27695-8605. 

 Telephone: 919/515-2454. Fax: 919/515-7095. 

 Subscriptions are $15. 

 E-mail: katie_mosher@ncsu.edu 

 World Wide Web address: 

 http://www.ncseagrant.org 

 Periodical Postage paid at Raleigh, N.C. 



POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 



Coastwatch. North Carolina Sea Grant 

 North Carolina State University. Box 8605. 

 Raleigh. NC 27695-8605. 



Aircraft Improve Hurricane Forecasts 



Wh, 



Sea^rant 



North Carolina 



Cover photo of the Whalehead Club 

 in Currituck by Erin Selling. 



Printed on recycled paper. ® 



en Hurricane Fran hit in 

 1996, weather forecasters relied on 

 satellite and aircraft to track the storm's 

 movement. 



Ten years later, National Weather 

 Service (NWS) meteorologists have 

 improved the use of aircraft to capture 

 the storm's eye at its meanest. 



"NOAA's National Weather 

 Service has gotten much better at aerial 

 reconnaissance," says Tom Matheson, 

 NWS meteorologist in Wilmington. 



Now, NOAA flight teams on two 

 turboprop WP-3D Orions collect data 

 near and in the storm to see how it 

 is forming, as well as monitor upper 

 atmospheric conditions. The Orions are 

 equipped with Doppler radar, on-board 

 instruments and dropwindsondes 

 deployed from the aircraft to measure 

 the pressure, temperature, humidity and 

 horizonal and vertical wind components 

 as they fall. 



NOAA also uses the Gulfstream IV 

 — a newer high-altitude, high-speed, 

 twin turbo fan jet acquired in the late 

 1 990s — to collect environmental 

 data hundreds of miles ahead in the expected 

 hurricane path. 



"This jet does what we do every day on 

 land with weather balloons," says Matheson. 



The Weather Service's network of weather 

 balloons is launched daily. But the Gulfstream 

 covers the large area over the ocean in the 

 hurricane's path, releasing dropwindsondes 

 while observing weather conditions, according 

 to Matheson. 



The data is then transmitted to the 

 NOAA National Centers for Environmental 

 Prediction and the National Hurricane Center 

 for atmospheric modeling and hurricane 

 forecasting. 



When hurricanes are within a couple 

 hundred miles of the U.S. coast, the "Hurricane 

 Hunters" from the U.S. Air Force Reserve also 

 use aerial weather reconnaissance aircraft to 

 determine the precise location, motion, strength 



22^ 



NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER 

 ATLANTIC - CARIBBEAN - GULF OF MEXICO- HURRICANE Tl 



and size of the hurncane. As the storm builds, 

 the WC-1 30s crews fly in each comer of the 

 storm to map the extent of the damaging 

 winds, as they have since the 1 960s. 



During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 

 Hurricane Hunters flew into the storm. Also, 

 NOAA aircraft conducted 1 long flights into 

 and around Katrina's eye. 



Since Fran hit North Carolina in 1 996, 

 the Weather Service also has extended its 

 hurricane forecasts from three to five days. 



"The accuracy for a five-day forecast 

 is now comparable to what the three-day 

 forecast was in Fran," says Matheson. 

 "Hurricane Isabel that hit North Carolina 

 in 2004 was a real success story in terms of 

 forecasting." 



To find out more about hurricanes, 

 visit the National Hurricane Center: www.nhc. 

 noaa.gov. — A.G. 



2 Coastwatch I High Season 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



