Hurricane Hunter Suggestion

[jfaul]

This would be the time to add some extra fuel tanks and get some recon out there and better yet get the noaa jets out there for some big time sampling. I realize its far away from land but recon would be really key right now along with the noaa jets to find out waht is really happening. I still think it heads west and we have been faked out a couple times today but maybe this is the real deal tonight. FYI, nbc met roalnd steadham in miami says if it is in the bahamas on sunday or close to it than we start determining if a sofla landfall is insight....i won;t be waiting that long to figure it out.

[WeatherEmperor]

I went to the NHC website last night and checked for any planned recon flights. I remember reading that they might send one in once it passed 56W or something like that. I dont think they will use the NOAA jets to sample the environment until it comes a tad bit closer, say around the longitute of Puerto-Rico or something.

[bayouwxman]

As P-Diddy once said, "It's all about the Benjamins!".

NHC, NOAA's Hurricane Research Division and the Hurricane Hunters based at Keesler AFB would love to do more recon. Cost, as with many other things, is prohibitive when it comes to flying missions that far out.

Had the opportunity to see Stacy Stewart give a presentation at a hurricane conference a few months ago about the 5 day forecast. Near the end, he discussed the funding challenges that the NHC faces. Found a copy of his presentation online:

http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/ams/conference/pdf/Stewart.pdf

You may find the entire presentation interesting, but check out page 33...quite a unique way of making his argument for how under-funded he and others belive the NHC is.