NBC 6 now has the First Alert Doppler 6000, the most powerful live radar in South Florida. It’s one of the tools we use to keep you informed and prepared during hurricane season and throughout the year.
The radar at the NBC 6 tower weighs 38,000 pounds. But it’s nothing compared to the hurricane hunters used by the National Hurricane Center to keep you safe.
Hercules is one of the mighty air force planes that log a lot of frequent flier miles during hurricane season. It’s the chariot of hurricane hunters.
“This aircraft is specialized for weather recon,” said Warren Madden, the Aerial Recon Coordinator for the National Hurricane Center. “That means punching through hurricanes.”
Matched with the recon plane of the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, these planes fly all over our coasts and into storms using their own cutting edge radar and technology to relay vital information.
“Doppler gives you a side view of the storm, which makes the scientists really happy,” said Lt. Commander Nate Kahn, a hurricane hunter pilot.
In the air between eight and ten hours a day, they crisscross storms four times, logging a continuous stream of wind, temperature and pressure data in very dangerous conditions.
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The experts describe it as a “roller coaster in a car wash” or a “go pro in a dishwasher.”
The National Hurricane Center then takes all of that information and provides us with advisories, all with the intention of keeping South Florida safe. These hurricane hunters put their lives at risk to help save ours – but only if we listen and prepare.
The hurricane hunters say they do their best to minimize the risk when they fly into storms and that their knowledge of hurricanes helps them pick their spots. The planes are based out of the Virgin Islands, Mississippi and Hawaii.
