NOAA’s ‘Hurricane Hunters’ utilize Lockheed, Gulfstream planes to get storm

The NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters have been actively flying missions for Hurricane Milton, the intense storm swirling toward Florida’s west-central coast. 

The National Hurricane Center, which uses data from NOAA and Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter flights, said in a Tuesday public advisory that the storm will come onshore Wednesday night in west-central Florida. It became a Category 5 storm again Tuesday after briefly weakening. 

The flights that the NOAA Hurricane hunters have conducted for Hurricane Milton marks the latest instances of the daring group taking to the skies to support vital hurricane forecast models and research through data-gathering. 

According to the agency, the group uses three aircraft – two made by Lockheed Martin and one by Gulfstream – for traversing through, around and above hurricanes.

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The NOAA’s two Lockheed WP-3D Orion planes feature a “unique array of scientific instrumentation, radars and recording systems for measurements of the atmosphere, the earth and its environment,” the NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations has said.

A National Hurricane Center’s Lockheed WP-3D Orion Hurricane

That includes lower fuselage and tail Doppler radar systems that can give “an MRI-like look” at a given storm and deployable GPS dropwindsondes to measure properties like pressure and wind speed, among other instruments, according to the agency.

The four-engine turboprop WP-3D Orion planes, which can fly up to 3,800 nautical miles and reach up to 27,000 feet in the air, are nicknamed “Kermit” and “Miss Piggy.”

The cockpit of a WP-3D Orion during a NOAA Hurricane Hunter flight through Hurricane Ian (Nick Underwood/NOAA)

During a recent flight through Hurricane Milton, “Miss Piggy” experienced a “bump ride” that jostled but did not appear to phase her passengers, according to a Tuesday X post from the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center.

The NOAA Hurricane Hunters also operate a Gulfstream IV-SP jet called “Gonzo.” 

When deployed, the aircraft typically traverses around and above hurricanes “gathering vital high-altitude data with GPS dropwindsondes and tail Doppler radar that enables forecasters to map the steering currents that influence the movements of hurricanes,” according to the NOAA’S Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. It can fly as high as 45,000 feet.

A view of the NOAA Gulfstream IV-SP (NOAA)

The NOAA’s Gulfstream IV-SP has been busy with Milton, making several flights over the past couple of days, FlightAware data indicated.

The Air Force Reserve also has its own Hurricane Hunters that belong to the 403rd Wing’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and provide support for the NHC. They use 10 WC-130J Hercules planes that also come from…