Eye of the storm photo’s

The brave “hurricane hunters” work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Each mission lasts about ten hours, with the crews passing four to six times through the storm. The planes carry radar, sophisticated computers, and weather instruments that determine characteristics such as temperature, air pressure, wind speed, and wind direction inside the hurricane. The crews also release instruments that measure temperature, air pressure, and wind at different levels as the devices drop through the hurricane toward the ocean.

By mission’s end, NOAA can warn everyone in the hurricane’s path. “We love flying into hurricanes,” says Kenul. “What we do helps a lot of people.” Plus it’s like getting all the free “roller coaster rides” they can take!

Photograph courtesy NOAA

Information about Hurricanes

INFORMATION ABOUT HURRICANES

BIG WIND
The word “hurricane” comes from Huracan, the god of big winds and evil spirits once worshiped by the Maya people of Central America.

STATS
The average life of a hurricane is nine days. The hurricane is most destructive during its first 12 hours onshore. A typical eye measures 20 miles (32 kilometers) across.

IT’S HURRICANE SEASON
The record for the most hurricanes in a season is 12, set in 1969. Though hurricanes can occur at any time, the official hurricane season in the Atlantic falls between June 1 and November 30. An average year has six to eight hurricanes, which occur mostly in August, September, and October.

NOTORIOUS
The deadliest hurricane in the United States struck Galveston, Texas, in 1900. A storm surge almost two stories high broke over the city, causing 20-foot (6.1-meter) floods and more than 8,000 deaths. The costliest hurricane was Andrew in 1992, which caused damages totaling more than U.S. $25 billion in parts of Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia.

Hurricane Paths

FLYING INTO THE EYE OF A HURRICANE | EYE OF THE HURRICANE | MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HURRICANES | HURRICANE SURVIVAL TIPS | HURRICANE PATHS

HURRICANE PATHS In the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans “hurricane” is the word generally used to describe what scientists call a type of “tropical cyclone.” Hurricanes in the western Pacific are called “typhoons,” and those in the Indian Ocean are simply called “cyclones.”	Check out a video showing how hurricanes form.

Hurricane Names

HURRICANE NAMES IN 2003

— Ana
— Bill
— Claudette
— Danny
— Erika
— Fabian
— Grace
— Henri
— Isabel
— Juan
— Kate
— Larry
— Mindy
— Nicholas
— Odette
— Peter
— Rose
— Sam
— Teresa
— Victor
— Wanda

Hurricane names come from six official international lists. The names alternate between boys’ and girls’. When a storm becomes a hurricane, it’s named from the list, in alphabetical order. Each list is reused every six years. A name “retires” if that hurricane caused a lot of damage or many deaths.

Hurricane Survival Tips

HURRICANE SURVIVAL TIPS

CLEAR YOUR YARD of any loose material, such as tree branches and lawn furniture, that might blow around. Anchor what cannot be removed.

BOARD UP WINDOWS or brace them with crisscrossed strips of heavy tape so glass won’t shatter in strong winds.

KEEP FLASHLIGHTS, batteries, a battery-operated radio, a first-aid kit, water, and essential medications on hand. Stock up on nonperishable food.

STAY INSIDE. A sudden calm may mean only that the eye of the storm—the center of the doughnut-shaped mass (above)—is passing over you. Continuously listen for bulletins about the storm’s progress on the radio.

MAKE A PLAN. Have a family emergency communication plan in case you become separated from family members. Also review your family’s evacuation plan.

Flying into the eye of a hurricane

FLYING INTO THE EYE OF A HURRICANE A monster storm with 150-mile- (241-kilometer-) an-hour winds churns west across the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists at the National Hurricane Center in Miami have tracked it for days using satellite images. Now they’re worried it may threaten the United States. It’s time for the “hurricane hunters” to go to work! All ships and airplanes have been warned away from this monster. But two four-engine airplanes, each carrying a flight crew and several scientists, now head toward the storm. Their mission? To collect data inside the hurricane that will tell meteorologists where the storm is going, when it will get there, and how violent it will be. The planes—nicknamed Kermit and Miss Piggy—take off from Florida and the Caribbean. They fly east over the Atlantic into skies that grow increasingly dark and stormy. Suddenly they disappear inside the clouds—one plane fairly close to the sea surface, and the other much higher in the system. As the planes struggle toward the eye, the pilots fight intense updrafts and downdrafts. The hurricane pelts the planes with rain and hail. Static electricity builds up and then discharges with a flash and a loud bang, causing the crew’s hair to literally stand on end. “About the last 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 kilometers) we get into the eye wall,” says Greg Bast, a flight engineer, whose job it is to keep the plane’s systems operating properly. “That’s where we get banged around a lot.” “It’s like you’re on a roller coaster going down, and then getting shot back up again,” adds Philip Kenul, a pilot. “You just have to make sure that when you drop, you don’t run out of air and hit the ocean!”

Eye of the storm

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Tropical Weather Galleries

2005 Tropical Weather Galleries

July 11, 2005 • Times-Picayune catches Dennis July 10, 2005 • Dennis pounds Pensacola (AP) • Dennis approaches New Orleans area Sunday • T-P photos of Dennis preparation

July 9, 2005 • AP photos of Hurricane Dennis July 8, 2005 • Bracing for Dennis • In wake of Cindy

Galleries from Hurricane Ivan

September 24, 2004 • East of Destin 1 • East of Destin 2 • Destin and Miramar Beach 1 • Destin and Miramar Beach 2 • Destin and Miramar Beach 3 • Destin and Miramar Beach 4 • Fort Walton 1 • Fort Walton 2 • Navarre Beach 1 • Navarre Beach 2 • Navarre Beach 3 • Navarre Beach 4 • Pensacola Beach 1 • Pensacola Beach 2 • Pensacola Beach 3 • Pensacola Beach 4 • Pensacola Beach 5 • Pensacola Beach 6 • Perdido Key 1 • Perdido Key 2 • Perdido Key 3 • Perdido Key 4 • Perdido Key 5 • Perdido Key 6 • Orange and Romar 1 • Orange and Romar 2 • Orange and Romar 3 • Orange and Romar 4 • Orange and Romar 5 • Gulf Shores 1 • Gulf Shores 2 • Gulf Shores 3 • Gulf Shores 4 • Gulf Shores 5 • Gulf Shores 6 • Gulf Shores 7 • Gulf Shores 8 • Gulf Shores 9 • Gulf Shores 10 • Gulf Shores 11 • Dauphin Island -1 • Dauphin Island 2

Hurricane Katrina Photo’s by NOLA.com

Hurricane Katrina photo galleries from The Times-Picayune,
Associated Press and User Submissions can be found at

http://www.nola.com/katrinaphotos/