Read more: Instant Expert: Extreme weather
Meet Jeff Masters, who flies into hurricanes to test their strength
鈥淎nother updraft, much stronger, grabs the aircraft. I regret forgetting to fasten my shoulder harness as I struggle to keep from bashing into the computer console. Seconds later, a huge downdraft blasts us, hurling the loosened gear against walls and floor. Gerry and Lowell are barely in control of the aircraft. Hugo is a category 5 hurricane, and we are in the eyewall at 1500 feet! One strong downdraft could send us plunging into the ocean. We have to make it to the eye, where we can climb to a safer altitude.
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鈥淲e鈥檙e almost there! Then, disaster. Thick, dark clouds suddenly envelop the aircraft. A titanic fist of wind smashes us. I am thrown into the computer console, bounce off, and for one terrifying instant find myself looking down at a precipitous angle at Sean across the aisle from me.鈥�
I served for four years as a flight meteorologist on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration鈥檚 P-3 hurricane hunter aircraft. During this mission in hurricane Hugo in 1989, we hit the most extreme turbulence any hurricane hunter aircraft has ever survived, with forces of 5.7 g. The wings are only rated to stay on at 6 g. The pilot lost control of the aircraft and one of our engines burst into flame during the encounter.
Six missions between 1945 and 1974 were lost with all hands. The aircraft used in those days were poorly equipped and wind speed had to be estimated by looking at the degree to which the sea surface had been churned to foam 鈥� which meant flying beneath the lowest clouds at an altitude of just 200 metres.
The reason for flying into hurricanes is to measure the strongest winds, which occur in the eyewall 鈥� the ring of violent thunderstorms that surrounds the calm eye. Knowing the exact strength of the eyewall winds is crucial for issuing proper warnings.
Satellites cannot measure winds in the eyewall directly, as they have a limited ability to see through clouds and rain. That an airplane could safely penetrate the eyewall and survive was first demonstrated on 27 July 1943, by Colonel Joseph Duckworth. This dangerous task will likely be taken over by UAVs, with no crew on board, in 20 or so years from now. However, only crewed aircraft can carry the heavy Doppler radar instruments needed to fully probe the structure of a hurricane, so these aircraft will continue to fly into the less dangerous parts of hurricanes for a long time to come.
Jeff Masters
Jeff Masters co-founded the Weather Underground online weather information service in 1995 while working on his PhD. He flew with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration鈥檚 hurricane hunters from 1986 to 1990.
Recommended reading
The AMS Weather Book: The Ultimate guide to America鈥檚 weather by Jack Williams (University of Chicago Press)
Meteorology Today by Donald Ahrens (Brooks Cole)
Extreme Weather by Christopher Burt (W. W. Norton)
Divine Wind by Kerry Emanuel (Oxford University Press)
Tornado Alley by Howard Bluestein (Oxford University Press)
The Rough Guide to Climate Change by Robert Henson (Rough Guides)