Hurricane Hunters: how they work and why they're important

It only takes one storm to make it a bad hurricane season and many Maritimers found that out last year with the force and impact of post-tropical storm Arthur. How much worse would it have been if we didn't know what was coming our way?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

This weekend, I got to meet the people who give us a clearer picture of what to expect — and when to expect it — when it comes to hurricanes, thanks to the 2015 Hurricane Awareness Tour hosted by the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

Some of the top officials of the National Hurricane Center and Canadian Hurricane Centre were in attendance. It was also an opportunity to see some of the most important meteorological equipment for the tracking and forecast of tropical storms and hurricanes, namely the WC-130J or Hurricane Hunter aircraft.

The aircraft is a vital tool in the prediction of the strength and movement of one of these powerful weather systems.

Tropical storms and hurricanes develop over oceans where real time weather data such as wind and temperature is sparse or non-existent.

These aircraft help fill in some of the gaps — and since even the most complex computer weather model relies on initial weather conditions, that can greatly increase the accuracy of the forecast.

How do they do it?

How they do that it is even more incredible.

In order to get the most useful weather information possible, these aircraft and their crew must enter the very centre of a tropical storm or hurricane — not once, but several times on a single mission that can last up to 14 hours.

That takes not only expert piloting — most of the pilots have extensive military backgrounds — but deft analysis of the weather conditions surrounding the tropical storm or hurricane.

After speaking to the crew of the aircraft, I learned that on approach to one of these storms, they're constantly scanning with their onboard radar to find "windows" of weather conditions suitable to take the plane through.

Even then, the turbulence can be violent — far more than what would be experienced on a commercial flight.

Alerting and preparing

Once in the centre of the storm, meteorological instruments called dropsondes are deployed. Dropsondes are actually several instruments bundled in one package that are launched from the plane and then float down through the storm using a small parachute. This is similar to a weather balloon, except instead of floating up, it drops down.

The information is relayed almost instantaneously back to the National Hurricane Center in Florida. From there, meteorologists make use of it in the forecast for the storm.

The National Hurricane Center then liaisons with emergency management agencies and international partners, such as the Canadian Hurricane Centre, to alert and prepare the public.

That was the real objective of the tour — to remind the public why we need to heed the warnings and be prepared to act upon them.

After speaking with some of the people who risk their lives in order to give us as much notice as possible about approaching storms, it's clear we can all do our part to be prepared.