1943: The first "Hurricane Hunters"

This Date in Weather History

The 1943 Surprise hurricane was the first hurricane to be entered by a reconnaissance aircraft. The first tracked tropical cyclone of the 1943 Atlantic hurricane season, this system developed as a tropical storm while situated over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico on July 25. The storm gradually strengthened while tracking westward and reached hurricane status late on July 26. Early on July 27, it became a Category 2 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir-Simpson scale and peaked with winds of 105 mph. Because the storm occurred during World War II, information and reports were censored by the US government and news media. Advisories also had to be cleared through the Weather Bureau office in New Orleans, resulting in late releases. This in turn delayed preparations ahead of the storm. In Louisiana, the storm produced gusty winds and heavy rains, though no damage occurred. The storm was considered, at the time, the worst in Texas since the 1915 Galveston Hurricane. Wind gusts reach 132 mph in the Galveston-Houston area, buildings and houses were damaged or destroyed. The storm caused 19 fatalities. Overall, damage reached approximately $17 million. This was the first hurricane to be intentionally flown into by a reconnaissance aircraft. During the morning hours of July 27, British pilots were training at Bryan Field in Bryan, Texas and were alerted about a hurricane approaching the Galveston area. Upon becoming informed that the planes would need to be flown away from the storm, they criticized this policy. Instead, US Colonel Joe Duckworth made a bet with the British pilots that he could fly his AT-6 Texan trainer directly into the storm. Duckworth requested that Lt. Colonel Ralph O'Hair, the only navigator at the field, fly into the hurricane with him. Because neither Duckworth nor O'Hair believed that the headquarters would approve the flight, they decided to proceed without permission. Thus, Duckworth and O'Hair became the first hurricane hunters, on July 27, 1943. Their impact of their flight would pave the way for today’s Hurricane hunters. According to AccuWeather.com "Hurricane hunter pilots risk their lives as they obtain information that is critical in determining the intensity of a tropical system by directly sampling the storm. The data that they collect, including radar information, wind speed, temperature, pressure, etc. are instrumental in the forecasting process.”

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