A crew of Hurricane Hunters launched from Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi on Wednesday and flew a WC-130J Hercules about 700 miles southwest, directly into Tropical Storm Isaias. The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flight collected data from inside the storm using onboard instruments and dropsondes, then sent it to the National Hurricane Center to sharpen forecast models.
Second Lt. Andrew Wilson, an aerial reconnaissance weather officer on the mission, is a former television meteorologist at WLOX, so he knows both sides of a storm: the broadcast and the inside of the eyewall. His assessment of Isaias is that the storm is starting to get its act together as it strengthens near the Gulf Coast.
For Suncoast residents, the takeaway is straightforward. The forecasts you check during storm season are built on data gathered by planes like this one, flying at low altitude through conditions most of us avoid. That is why storm preparedness here, from Sarasota down to Naples, is a year-round habit rather than a last-minute scramble. So how prepared is your household right now?
