The Eyes In The Sky

[syndicaster id=’6095046′]
Biloxi, Miss. (WCBI) — Their job is to keep our country safe from the hands of Mother Nature.

This upcoming week wraps up the 2015 hurricane season, and all the information on the storms that threatened the east and west coast came from those who fly into the storm.

They are the Hurricane Hunters.

“As an Air Force weather officer, I think this is like the premium job that you can get…”, said Aerial Reconnaissance Weather Officer, or ARWO, Kimberly Spusta.

Prior to joining the Hurricane Hunters, Spusta spent 10 years as a weather officer in the Air Force.

Spusta’s first flight with the Hurricane Hunters was in October of this year, when they flew into Hurricane Patricia, the largest ever recorded.

“it definitely took us off our seats for a few minutes…”, recalled Spusta.

An ARWO is responsible for sifting through data that is collected by a device called a drop sound.

The device is dropped from the bottom of the aircraft, and records data like temperature, air pressure, and wind speeds. The ARWO is able to observe information from the storm both vertically and horizontally.

It takes about 20 minutes for the data to be collected and then sent out to different weather services.

Spusta said the eye of the storm as well as the eye wall, or area surrounding the eye, is where they obtain they best information on the storm.

Crews can spend up to 12 hours in a weather modified C-130 aircraft, or WC-130J.

The Hurricane Hunters are also not limited to only hurricanes. Spusta said they are also assigned to weather storm missions.

Instead of flying through a hurricane to collect data, Spusta explained, for a winter storm, they fly ahead of the storm and at a higher altitude.

“It’s… like being on the front lines, you know, and getting up close and personal with Mother Nature…”, said ARWO Brian Schroeder, “…that’s something that not a whole lot of meteorologists get to experience…”

Before joining the Air Force, Schroeder spent time as TV weather forecaster in Nebraska.

Now that he’s been hunting hurricanes for about 4 years, he says that experience gives him perspective because “it makes it that much more important, the mission that we do…it feels like…I have at least a little knowledge as a forecaster so I know how important the data is that I provide those forecasters so I want to make sure that I get it right.”

The Hurricane Hunters are tasked with patrolling the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Their most recent mission was to hunt Hurricane Sandra in the Pacific.