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As Idalia hit Florida, all of NOAA\u2019s hurricane-hunting planes were grounded
\u00a9 Jahi Chikwendiu\/The Washington Post<\/p><\/div>\n
As Hurricane Idalia\u00a0rapidly approached Florida\u2019s Big Bend region<\/a>\u00a0early Wednesday morning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had to ground its last remaining \u201churricane hunter\u201d plane due to a generator failure.<\/p>\n Dubbed Miss Piggy, the plane is one of three aircraft operated by NOAA that can collect storm data essential to forecasters. In the 24 hours before Idalia slammed into Florida, it was the only NOAA-operated aircraft available to provide the federal agency\u2019s National Hurricane Center with data on the storm, according to one former senior NOAA official and one current employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the issue\u2019s sensitivity.<\/p>\n Asked about the matter Wednesday, NOAA confirmed the plane\u2019s technical problems.<\/p>\n The two other planes were undergoing repairs. After days of flying into Idalia, Miss Piggy, too, was sidelined \u2014 unable to carry out the early-morning flight requested by the Hurricane Center as the storm was set to make landfall. Instead, an Air Force plane that had also been asked to fly provided data on the storm, two current employees said.<\/p>\n The planes\u2019 troubles have raised concerns about the availability of one key forecasting tool ahead of what\u2019s\u00a0shaping up to be an active hurricane season<\/a>. While the Hurricane Center has other ways of gathering information, experts say forecasters rely heavily on these planes for data that helps inform watches, warnings and evacuation decisions.<\/p>\n In addition to the flights, NOAA said it used a variety of tools to track Idalia\u2019s path toward Florida, including satellites and the National Weather Service\u2019s network of radars. \u201cNOAA has numerous observing platforms on and in the ocean this season,\u201d said Scott Smullen, an agency spokesman.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still unclear whether the Hurricane Center\u2019s forecast suffered for having only one NOAA plane flying into Idalia as it advanced toward shore. Some experts noted that predictions about the system\u2019s path have been accurate, and flying planes is less important as storms near shore, where they can be tracked by ground-based radars. But had the planes been unavailable earlier, it could have hurt the accuracy of forecasts, they said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a World Cup soccer game, and you have one goalie, and you play him every moment of every game,\u201d one of the current NOAA officials said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very high risk that he gets hurt, and the impact when he does that \u2014 you lose the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n One of NOAA’s hurricane-monitoring aircraft, seen in Arlington, Va., in 2017.\u00a9\u00a0Jahi Chikwendiu\/The Washington Post<\/p><\/div>\n Aside from Miss Piggy, NOAA operates another Lockheed WP-3D Orion called Kermit and a Gulfstream IV-SP named Gonzo.<\/p>\n The Lockheed planes, known as P-3s, punch through the eyewalls of hurricanes to gather the data forecasters need to make accurate predictions about the intensity and trajectory of hurricanes.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re made to fly through nasty weather, and fly really low and be very rugged,\u201d said Mark Luther, an oceanographer at the University of South Florida. \u201cThey\u2019re very sturdy aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n To paint a picture of a storm, scientists aboard the planes drop probes to measure wind direction and speed, pressure, humidity and temperature as they descend to the sea, transmitting that information back to the aircraft. The planes also have a tail Doppler radar system, or TDR, located near the back that measures precipitation and winds, creating a three-dimensional \u201cCAT scan\u201d that can show forecasters where the strongest winds are, how far they extend out from the storm center and where the most intense rainfall occurs,\u00a0according to NOAA<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gonzo, the Gulfstream jet, flies higher than the P-3s and gathers data on storms from the upper atmosphere.<\/p>\n The three planes are approaching the end of their life spans. The P-3s, for instance, have been in service since the 1970s, while the Gulfstream jet has been operating since the mid-1990s.<\/i>\u00a0While they have been retrofitted and repaired, flying through a hurricane can be grueling \u2014 for both the crews and the planes.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to have to be retired by 2030, if not sooner,\u201d the former senior NOAA official said. \u201cIt really depends on how many flights they do. So if we have a couple active seasons, they\u2019re going to hit their end of life a lot sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/AA1g0rqC.jpg\")
\u2018Hurricane hunters\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n
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