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00:00Welcome to AccuWeather's Ask the Experts, I'm your host Jeff Cornish.
00:15We go beyond the forecast to give you the how and why on all the cool and interesting
00:19things that you have wondered about and wanted to ask in weather, space and science.
00:24And in today's show, we talk to someone who comes face to face with some of the worst
00:28weather in the world, but the information and research that he and other pilots and
00:32crew members give the weather world is invaluable when it comes to helping predict the biggest
00:37storms on Earth.
00:38So we're talking about the Hurricane Hunters program, and joining us is Commander Adam
00:43Abbottball, and he is a pilot and chief of operations at NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center
00:48in Lakeland, Florida.
00:49Adam, thank you so much for being here with us.
00:51It's a pleasure, thanks for having me.
00:54As a Navy pilot, you earned several medals for flying missions in Iraq and Afghanistan,
00:58early in your career.
01:00Did you think you would transition from flying in battle to battling the elements flying
01:05into hurricanes?
01:06Yeah, it's been a fun transition for sure.
01:08I mean, I grew up in Florida, so I was keenly aware of the Hurricane Hunters and their mission,
01:13and honestly the impacts that storms have on Florida, and the impact that the Hurricane
01:17Hunters have on providing the tracking intensity forecast.
01:20So I thought it would be a really cool thing to transition out of my Navy career, continue
01:24my service to the country, and be able to do this and give back.
01:28Well, that's fantastic.
01:30Now I learned a few things in talking to you just before this show began about the Hurricane
01:36Hunter program, as we realize that there's an Air Force aspect to this, and then also
01:41NOAA aspect to this.
01:43So could you talk about the overall structure of the Hurricane Hunter program, and how these
01:47two agencies work together?
01:49Yeah, Jeff, so we're all part of one big team, right?
01:52Just like satellites, and buoys, and other sort of observational instruments.
01:56But the Air Force does have C-130s that they fly into the storm.
01:59We fly P-3s into the storm.
02:01The main difference being kind of our mission set, right?
02:04The Air Force goes in to fix the center of the storm.
02:07That's their primary mission, whereas NOAA, we fly the most advanced weather aircraft
02:11on the planet.
02:12And so our aircraft is outfitted with a host of instrumentation and radars, and a bunch
02:17of really advanced scientific instrumentation and weather gathering tools that help not
02:24only inform the current track and intensity forecast, but also help build the understanding
02:29for future modeling, future algorithms, future understanding of storm dynamics and complexities.
02:34So the NOAA side gets to hit both kind of the current and the future parts of hurricane
02:42research and hurricane operations.
02:44And how does this actually function?
02:45Could you talk about what you actually do as a hurricane hunter in terms of flying into
02:51these storms?
02:52How high up are you going?
02:53And what kinds of things are you looking for within a tropical system?
02:59It's a great question.
03:00It's one we get often, obviously.
03:01But we go into the storm right in the heart of the storm, about 8,000 to 10,000 feet into
03:06the storm, because that's really where we can get the best data, but also do it safely
03:11for our crewed aircraft.
03:12So we go into the storm, we drop our bread and butter instruments, a drop wind sonnet.
03:16It collects all the atmospheric state variables that you need to understand the storm.
03:20So temperature, humidity, winds, pressure, and it radios it back to us, and then we therefore
03:27radio it back to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
03:29And they ingest that in the models, and out pops the track and intensity forecast that
03:33you see on the news to help inform the local populations.
03:38This sort of thing would have been unfathomable 100, 120 years ago.
03:41So let's talk about the history of Hurricane Hunters.
03:43When did this program develop, and who came up with the idea of actually flying into these
03:48storms, the things that commercial pilots and private pilots would try to avoid?
03:53Yeah, I mean, I think the myth goes, and I think it's pretty true, it was a bar bet back
03:57in Texas, I think in the 40s or 50s or something.
04:01Someone did the flight, they survived.
04:03They ended up standing up a program to realize that there's a lot of value in getting into
04:07the storm.
04:08Even today, with all of our advanced technology, satellites and observable buoys in the ocean,
04:15they're not able to get all the data that we can in a crude aircraft.
04:18So our job is still vitally important today.
04:20We still collect data that you can only get from sending a crude aircraft into the center
04:24of the storm.
04:26And the nice part is we can meet the storm wherever it is, right?
04:28So other instrumentation might have to wait for the storm to pass over it or get near
04:32it.
04:33We can go and deploy and meet the storm wherever it is and get that information in real time.
04:37Very cool.
04:38And we're showing some imagery from both the NOAA side and also the Air Force.
04:42So talk about your role and then the roles of others in the crews that are on board some
04:47of the NOAA jets.
04:48Yeah, so it's really a team atmosphere and it's so much fun.
04:52That's why I'm still here.
04:53That's why I love doing this job.
04:54I'm one of the pilots, obviously, but up front with us in the flight station, we have a flight
04:58engineer that is vitally important to controlling power and oil and a lot of the critical functions
05:04of the aircraft.
05:05Then we have a flight director, which is a meteorologist, a navigator.
05:09We have a data systems operator, and we have a person in the back, an AVAPS operator, that
05:13drops those instruments I was talking about, those dropwinds.
05:16Now that's just the NOAA component.
05:19In addition to that, we take a lot of hurricane researchers with us.
05:23We'll take a lot of scientists that have their instruments on board that are helping to collect
05:27some very specific or bespoke data that is helping understand their concept of the storm.
05:36So it can be a full house on the plane of 15, 18 folks or so at a time flying through
05:42the storm, but it's a really beautiful shared experience.
05:45We're all up there together having fun, getting through the storm and doing what I call the
05:49most fun you can have in aviation.
05:51That sounds pretty amazing.
05:52So what's the training like to be part of this?
05:56You know, clearly you got to have a lot of pilot background, a lot of pilot training
06:00to be one of the pilots.
06:01And then even then, when you show up, like as you referenced, I showed up with quite
06:05a bit of experience, a decade of experience from the Navy.
06:08I still had several years worth of on-the-job training, right?
06:12It's exposure to the storms.
06:13It's understanding how to fly the storm through or the aircraft through the storm, understanding
06:19what the crew dynamics are like and what the mission set is.
06:22So you can put the plane in the best position to get the data that you need.
06:25So several years worth of on-the-job training before you can become one of what we call
06:30a Hurricane Aircraft Commander or a HAC.
06:33And how many Hurricane Hunter flights have you made?
06:36And tell us about some of the hurricanes that you've flown into.
06:39Yeah, so I'm very fortunate this will be my 11th season.
06:44I'm not good at keeping track of how many storms.
06:48It's over 200 hurricane penetrations, like 400 maybe, including tropical storms and everything
06:54else.
06:55But somewhere around there is kind of a breadth of experience over the 11 years.
06:59I did get to fly, I think, two of the most memorable storms.
07:03Patricia in 2015 is the strongest storm ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.
07:08For better or worse, I was part of that crew.
07:09So that was fun and a lot of experience.
07:12And then, of course, the latest one is Hurricane Ian in 2022, a pretty violent land-falling
07:17Category 5 storm on the coast of Florida.
07:21Actually has a lot of near and dear impact to us here who are the NOAA Hurricane Hunters
07:26are in Lakeland, Florida.
07:27So we actually had to deploy to Houston just to fly this storm because we couldn't keep
07:32the aircraft in Lakeland, but we still had to conduct our mission and do our job.
07:36So it was a lot going on at that time.
07:38We realized how important it was.
07:40It was also the first operational launch of a drone in a hurricane, which has been marked
07:45in the Guinness Book of World Records, which I think is awesome.
07:47So really big, kind of memorable storms.
07:51Wow, it's quite the experience that you've been part of in all that.
07:54Well, Committer Abbott-Ball, we do have a viewer question that comes from Alex in Florida.
08:01Alex writes, what safety precautions are taken before flying into a hurricane?
08:05Have you ever feared for your life in any of these experiences?
08:09That's a great question, Alex.
08:12What we do, we like to say what we do is hazardous.
08:16It's not dangerous.
08:17And the difference being that we think about all the risks and then we try to mitigate
08:20them as much as possible.
08:21So we definitely understand and recognize it's a hazardous job.
08:25What we try to do is minimize our exposure to the really bad turbulence, the really bad
08:29convective areas, though we recognize that that's just impossible at times.
08:34We are very well trained.
08:35Everyone on that aircraft is exceptionally well trained.
08:38We have five-point shoulder harnesses.
08:40We do a lot of air crew training and safety training and water survival training.
08:43So we do a lot of work so that we can show up in the storm and be ready for whatever
08:47it throws at us.
08:49That's really good to hear.
08:50We understand that sometimes NOAA may fly into some other types of weather environments
08:56separate from tropical systems to better sample maybe the environment around a nor'easter
09:01for model improvements.
09:02Have you been part of some of that expansion of the program in recent years?
09:07I have.
09:08It's actually been on kind of two different sides.
09:09We have a G-4, a high-altitude jet that we send over to the West Coast to do atmospheric
09:14river work down in the winter.
09:16So they'll do all those atmospheric rivers that we've been seeing a lot about lately
09:20on the West Coast, hitting California and Oregon.
09:23They'll go sample that.
09:25And then the one you're referring to is kind of what we call our Ocean Winds Winter Project.
09:30Just like you said, they're bomb cyclones in the North Atlantic in the winter.
09:33So it's basically a low-pressure hurricane with ice.
09:36So I think honestly it's some of the harder flying that we do, even more so than a hurricane
09:41because you get a lot of the same components and you throw in a couple of extra hazards
09:45like ice, really bad IMC, and then it gets a little fun sometimes.
09:52That sounds pretty wild.
09:53Well, as an end-user of the computer models, we all benefit from that here at AccuWeather
09:57and elsewhere.
09:58So really fascinating stuff.
10:00This is great information so far.
10:01We've only just begun.
10:02We have plenty more coming up after the break in just a little bit, Adam.
10:05So we're looking forward to more with you.
10:08But also coming up later in WeatherWise, we're going to take a closer look at the top three
10:11costliest hurricanes to ever hit the United States.
10:16But next...
10:17It's really important that we sample each quadrant of the storm so that we understand
10:21the behavior and characteristics of each storm.
10:23We're taking a deeper look at the future of hurricane research, and we're answering more
10:27of your questions when Ask the Experts returns.
10:30So stay with us right here on the AccuWeather Network.
10:35Welcome back to Ask the Experts, I'm your host, Adam McKnight.
11:05Welcome back to AccuWeather's Ask the Experts, I'm your host, Jeff Cornish.
11:08We are talking about the people who fly into hurricanes to give us that very important
11:12information we need to help predict these big, impactful, and dangerous storms and getting
11:17insight on what they do and why they do it.
11:20So joining us again is Commander Adam Abbottball, who is a pilot in the Hurricane Hunter program
11:26with NOAA.
11:27And Adam, as we continue the conversation, we want to learn more about what you do and
11:31how this all works.
11:32How about the airplanes that you fly?
11:34How are the planes that you fly more equipped to fly into these conditions?
11:39Yeah, we fly a Lockheed product, the P-3 Orion.
11:44It's a weather variant called the WP-3D.
11:46We have two of them.
11:47They have nicknames, Kermit and Piggy.
11:50But they are tanks.
11:51I mean, they were built in the 70s, purpose-built for NOAA.
11:56And what we do with them is some incredible work, obviously, in the storm environment.
12:01We are actually looking to upgrade.
12:04They're reaching the end of their service life.
12:06And so we are looking to get new aircraft and recapitalize our hurricane aircraft fleet.
12:11So we're going to transition to the C-130s, which is another amazing Lockheed product.
12:15But we're going to transition to those pretty soon here, by 2029, 2030, somewhere around
12:21there and be able to continue the mission set that we provide with the crewed aircraft
12:26in the storms.
12:27And as an outsider, it seems to me that the Air Force Hurricane Hunters, they fly the
12:31C-130s.
12:32They're a physically larger plane.
12:33Is that right?
12:34Yeah, it's actually similar enough in size.
12:38They have a high wing.
12:39We have a low wing.
12:40We actually use a very similar engine.
12:41It's almost the same engine, different propellers.
12:44But otherwise, yes, it's similar enough in size.
12:47One's built a little more for speed.
12:49One's built a little more for power.
12:50But overall, the dimensions are close enough.
12:53But we're going to be joining the Air Force with those C-130J models, again, about 2030
13:00or so.
13:01Fascinating.
13:02Well, we want to talk about the instruments that you have on board of the flight.
13:05So what are the pieces of information that you gather and transmit to the weather world?
13:10Yeah, Jeff, I previously talked a little bit about the dropwindsond.
13:15Everyone in the weather world is kind of familiar with them.
13:16It's the opposite of an upwindsond, which is like a kind of a balloon launch that you
13:20see from the shore.
13:21But it collects all the kind of the four or five big atmospheric variables that we need
13:26to measure, pressure, temperature, humidity, wind, speed, and direction.
13:31What makes NOAA really unique is our 3D tail Doppler radar.
13:35It's the only planes in the world that have them.
13:37And what it does is it's an X-band vertically scanning tail Doppler radar.
13:43So as we fly through the storm, you can think of it as us taking like a CAT scan or an MRI
13:46of the storm as we go through.
13:49And that provides significant benefits to the understanding of the dynamics of a storm.
13:54We also have a 360-degree radar underneath us.
14:00It's a horizontally scanning, so it helps us see ahead of us where we're going and what's
14:04behind us.
14:05We have a host of other instrumentation, including LIDAR, W-band radars, K-band radars.
14:12So a lot of different radars and instrumentation that help us measure a lot of the different
14:17parts of the storm, including like even atmospheric cloud droplets.
14:24So some of the aerosols in the storm, it's really amazing what we can do with these planes.
14:28Really cool.
14:29So what's the length of a typical flight?
14:31And sometimes we have a lot of traffic in the Atlantic with multiple storm threats in
14:35a matter of 600, 700 miles.
14:37Do you ever investigate more than one storm at a time with a single flight?
14:41Yeah, not in a single flight.
14:43Each flight is dedicated to a single storm, but we can do successive storms on successive
14:48days.
14:49And of course, you'll remember the record-breaking 2020 season.
14:52We were doing that quite a bit.
14:54But yes, we can do about eight to nine hours is the typical mission set in a storm.
15:00We fly into the storm, we cut it up basically like a pizza, if you can imagine it that.
15:03So it's really important that we sample each quadrant of the storm so that we understand
15:08the behavior and characteristics of each storm.
15:10So we'll do that.
15:12We'll fly eight to nine hours, come land and turn around and do it the next day.
15:15So they can be really long, really exhausting, tiring days because flying eight to nine hours
15:20is one thing.
15:21Flying eight to nine hours in a hurricane, as you can imagine, it's a little more.
15:25So it can be tiring.
15:26I believe that.
15:27I believe that.
15:28Well, it is time for another viewer question.
15:29This one's in video form from Kendall in Pennsylvania.
15:32So Kendall, what do you want to ask the experts?
15:36What advice do you have for students who want to get into this program and one day become
15:40hurricane hunters?
15:41Yeah, Kendall, happy to answer that question.
15:47From a pilot standpoint, if you're looking to be a pilot or even a meteorologist or navigator
15:51or data operator in the back, we really emphasize a STEM degree and a STEM background.
15:56So science, technology, engineering and math here at NOAA.
16:00If you want to be a pilot, we are hiring right now, actually.
16:03So most we're looking for people with commercial pilot's license that already have their commercial.
16:08And then we will bring you up and we'll train you probably on a light aircraft first.
16:12NOAA has some King Airs and Twin Otters.
16:14And then we bring you on to fly the heavy aircraft to either the G4 or the P3 to go
16:19fly into the storm.
16:21So it can be a little bit of a longer track, but I can promise you the reward is worth
16:26it.
16:27Well, it seems like a nice payoff.
16:28If you're looking for an office with a view, that stadium effect there inside the eye of
16:32the storm must be a spectacular thing to experience.
16:35And briefly, Adam, I believe there's a website people can go to if they're interested in
16:38getting into this program.
16:40Is that right?
16:41Yeah, there is.
16:43I think Jonathan, our PAO, Jonathan Shannon has the website, but omao.noaa.gov should
16:49be the website you can go to.
16:52You can learn more about being a NOAA Corps officer.
16:54You can learn more about hurricane hunting.
16:56And that's just a really good place to get informed and find some resources if you are
17:00interested in becoming a NOAA Corps officer.
17:04That's really cool.
17:05And just in a couple of seconds, what's it like to be in the middle of a storm like this
17:08in that stadium effect area?
17:11I mean, that's definitely the reward, right?
17:13It's a long slog to get there.
17:15And then so you get a couple of minutes, a couple of seconds, depends on the size of
17:18the eye of reprieve.
17:20And that view is quite stunning, as you've noticed from some of the pictures and talking
17:25about it.
17:26But I love it.
17:27It's why we're still here doing it.
17:28It's a blast.
17:29That's great.
17:30Well, again, Commander Abbott Ball, on behalf of all of us here at AccuWeather, thanks again
17:32for your service to our country and to the whole weather community.
17:35And for all you and your fellow Hurricane Hunter crew members and planes do for our
17:38increased knowledge about current and also future storms and hurricanes.
17:42Thanks again for joining us.
17:44Great stuff, Adam.
17:46After the break, it's time for WeatherWise as we look at the top three costliest hurricanes
17:50in U.S. history when Ask the Experts returns.
18:05Welcome back to AccuWeather's Ask the Experts.
18:07It is time for WeatherWise, and today we're looking at the three costliest hurricanes
18:10to hit the United States.
18:12First, Hurricane Sandy.
18:14In October of 2012, Sandy began in the Caribbean and tracked up the U.S. East Coast.
18:19While it wasn't officially a hurricane when it made landfall in New Jersey, the superstorm
18:23unleashed hurricane-force winds and a catastrophic storm surge with flooding from New York to
18:28Connecticut and also in New Jersey.
18:30The monster storm caused 147 fatalities, and AccuWeather determined the economic cost of
18:35Sandy at $210 billion.
18:38Next, Hurricane Harvey.
18:39In August of 2017, this Category 4 hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast.
18:44It then stalled over Texas, delivering between 40 and over 60 inches of rain in the Houston
18:49area.
18:50That led to catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths and $230 billion in damage.
18:56In August of 2005, Katrina first made landfall in Florida, regained strength in the warm
19:01Gulf water, making landfall a second time in Louisiana, this time as a Category 3 hurricane.
19:07It had powerful winds and a storm surge, and levees in New Orleans failed, leaving
19:12about 80% of the city underwater.
19:15Katrina caused more than 1,800 fatalities, and according to AccuWeather, $320 billion
19:21in damages.
19:22Remember, hurricane season runs from June to November every year, and you can best be
19:26prepared by keeping track of the latest forecast on AccuWeather, AccuWeather.com, the AccuWeather
19:32app, and here on the network.
19:34Thanks so much for joining us on AccuWeather's Ask the Experts.
19:37I'm Jeff Cornish.
19:38If you have a question, remember, about weather, space, or science, you can always write us
19:43or send us a video question at AsktheExperts at AccuWeather.com.
19:46You can also call us at 888-566-6606.
19:51Have a great one.