2017 Hurricane Awareness Tour at RDU - Participating Aircraft

Severe Thunderstorms in the Plains Monday; Another Round of Hot to Excessively Hot Temperatures Coming to the Central and Western U.S.

Severe thunderstorms will be possible Monday across the northern and central Plains centered over Nebraska and South Dakota. Areas of damaging winds and sporadic hail will be possible. Another round of hot temperatures arrives Monday over the central and southern U.S. spreading into the Eastern U.S. by Independence Day. Excessive heat will begin to impact portions of California Tuesday. Read More >

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

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Participating Aircraft

The Raleigh, NC stop on the Hurricane Awareness Tour will feature two Hurricane Hunter Aircraft.

The WC-130J is one of ten such aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force Reservists from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, 403rd Wing, located at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS. Air crews fly directly into the core of tropical cyclones to gather data critical for forecasting tropical cyclone intensity and landfall.

The NOAA G-IV is part of the agency's fleet of highly specialized research and operational aircraft operated, managed, and maintained by the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and based at MacDill AFB in Tampa, FL. It flies at high altitude around and ahead of the tropical cyclone, gathering critical data to go into the hurricane forecast models.