NOAA & Air Force Reserve ‘Hurricane Hunters’ to visit the East Coast

With the 2024 hurricane season fast approaching, NOAA and the U.S. Air Force Reserve will host a series of events to help the communities along the East Coast prepare. Media and the public can meet NOAA hurricane experts, scientists and crew members and get a close-up look at some of the aircraft that help forecasters keep us safe — NOAA’s WP-3D and the U.S. Air Force Reserve WC-130J “Hurricane Hunter.” Michael Brennan, director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC), along with several hurricane specialists, will visit with residents and discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience and how they can become “weather-ready.” 

The Atlantic basin hurricane season begins June 1. During hurricanes, military aircrews fly state-of-the-art WC-130J aircraft directly into the core of the storm to gather critical data for forecasting a hurricane’s intensity and landfall. The data are sent in real-time via satellite from the aircraft directly to NHC for analysis and use by hurricane forecasters. The NOAA WP-3D Orion turboprop aircraft is used primarily by scientists on research missions to study various elements of a hurricane, flying through the eye of the storm several times each flight. 

The locations of all local airports and local times for tours are:

• Monday, May 6, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Portland International Airport  (public and media invited)
• Tuesday, May 7, 9:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Albany International Airport (media invited) 
• Wednesday, May 8, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Norfolk International Airport (public and media invited)
• Thursday, May 9, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – Charleston International Airport (media invited)
• Friday, May 10, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Orlando/Sanford International Airport (public and media invited)

The following experts will be on the tour and available for media interviews: 

NOAA:

• Michael Brennan, director, NHC
• Robbie Berg, warning coordination meteorologist, NHC 
• Cody Fritz, storm surge specialist, NHC
• David Novak, director, NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center (for Albany, Norfolk, and Charleston)
• Alex Lamers, warning coordination meteorologist, NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center 

FEMA: 

• Portland: Lori Ehrlich, FEMA region 1 regional administrator
• Albany: Anne Bink, associate administrator of the office of response & recovery
• Norfolk: MaryAnn Tierney, FEMA region 3 regional administrator
• Charleston: Robert Samaan, FEMA Region 4 regional administrator 
• Sanford: Robert Samaan, FEMA Region 4 regional administrator 
• Sherman Gillums, director of the office of disability integration & coordination 

Reporters who wish to reserve an interview with any of the NOAA experts may contact Maria Torres at maria.torres@noaa.gov or 305-433-1933 and for the FEMA experts please contact fema-news-desk@fema.dhs.gov. 

Climate, weather, and water affect all life on our ocean planet. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict our changing environment, from the deep sea to outer space, and to manage and conserve America’s coastal and marine resources.