Study reveals the bumpiest Hurricane Hunter flights

Captain Nate Kahn, commander of the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center, provides a look behind the scene of the plane used to fly to hurricanes.

Miami – New investigation is shedding light on how potholes can the missions of hurricane hunters and what seat on the plane it resembles a roller coaster more.

To characterize these flights, meteorologists examined the hurricane missions that date back to the 1980s and developed what they call the “bacility index.”

The index is based on a complex equation that factors in aircraft movements such as roll and tone, which can significantly vary a mission.

“Since rotation movements are experienced differently depending on where someone is on a plane, the potholes take into account the position of the seat,” the authors of the investigation published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society gave into account. “Then we classify the most gachant gachant flights in recent history by collecting data at the flight level of each tropical cyclones mission in P-3 since 2004, when the necessary data of the missions for this analysis were available, as well as the data of the infamamal and infamamal and infamamamal and infamamamal and infamamamal and infamamamal and infamamamal and infamamamal data and infamamamal and infamamamal and infamamamal and infamamamal and infamous and infamous and infamous and infamous and infamous and infamous and infamous and infamous, infamous and infamid and infamide and infamide and infamid of infamous and of the breast and the infamamous of the infamous infamous of the infamous infamous.

Atlantic Hurricane season guide 2025

Hurricane Ian in 2022 provided some of the most striking data for the unique study of its kind, with researchers who document rapid accelerations and abrupt changes in the aircraft.

Despite the intense trip, Ian did not head the list as the most bustling flight, that distinction was for Hurricane Hugo in 1989, when the pilot’s seat recorded a 7.86 -meter bacina value per second. The turbulence level experienced the duration that the flight would be classified as “severe” under the NOAA turbulence intensity scale.

In spite of such extreme conditions, the missions were largely processed as planned, including the deployment of the first unbuilt air system of a hurricane of the WP-3D aircraft Lockheed WP-3D.

Other notable tropical cyclones that make the list include Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Dorian (2019) and Hurricane Michael (2018).

The study also evaluated the bacin in the 19 seats on the plane and discovered that the correct pilot seat was one of the most bustling, while the seat typically occupied by the main scientist experienced the least amount of influence.

Duration Hurricane Ian, The Right Pilott Seat – Referred to As “Seat 2” – Remember the Highest Bumpiness Value at 6.13 m/s², While “Seat 10,” Typically Assigned to the Lead Scientist, Remember The Lowest At 4.40 m/s² – A DIFFERENCE – A DIFFERENCE – A DIFFERENCE – A DIFFERENCE – – To Difference – to Difference – to Difference – to Difference – to Difference – to Difference – to Difference – to Difference – to Difference – to Difference – to Difference – to Difference

Something unusual is happening in the tropics

Design of a hurricane hunter plane with labeled seats.

(Fox climate)

The findings aligned with long -term theories and observations that those sitting further from the central axis of the plane, either at the front or rear of the plane, tend to experience more intense movements than the sitting near the wings.

The same general rule applies to commercial airplanes, where passengers in the rear often support the most wading walks, thought that the levels found are not found while flying through a hurricane.

In addition to the flight crew, the mission participants generally include meteorologists, officers and weather recognition engineers, with flights of several hours that last.