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53-474: During the first three years of the Project, scientists used three specially instrumented Air Force Hurricane Hunters aircraft with crews on bailment from the 55th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron . They flew missions into hurricanes Greta (1956), Audrey (1957), Daisy (1958), and Helene (1958) in this initial period, collecting data which delineated the structure and energy budget of hurricanes for

106-777: A G-IV Gulfstream high-altitude jet above 41,000 feet (12 km) to document upper- and lower-level winds that affect cyclone movement. The computer models that forecast hurricane tracks and intensity mainly use G-IV dropsonde data collected day and night in storms affecting the United States. On September 27, 2024, NOAA announced it had awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics for two Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft configured for use as hurricane hunters to replace its aging WP-3D Orions, with service entry planned in 2030. Since 2009

159-601: A great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain , formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle . The islands are about 1,860 miles (3,000 km) from the nearest continent and are part of the Polynesia subregion of Oceania . The U.S. state of Hawaii occupies the archipelago almost in its entirety (including the mostly uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands ), with

212-431: A hurricane happened in 1943 when a pilot-trainer flew into a Category 1 hurricane near Galveston, Texas on a bet. In the past, before satellites were used to find tropical storms, military aircraft flew routine weather reconnaissance tracks to detect formation of tropical cyclones. While modern satellites have improved the ability of meteorologists to detect cyclones before they form, only aircraft are able to measure

265-546: A pilot flying over the Florida Keys noticed a large cloud mass to the east and more north than it should have been. The Cuban weather service requested a plane to be sent up to find the storm, with Captain Leonard Povey volunteering. After circling, but not penetrating (his plane had an open cockpit), the storm, he confirmed the storm was located more north than originally thought and actually heading northeast. This

318-727: A suitable candidate storm entered their operational area. Late in 1964, the Project was renamed the National Hurricane Research Laboratory in recognition of it becoming a permanent institution within the Weather Bureau. This presaged the creation of the Environmental Research Laboratories the next year. Hurricane Hunters Hurricane hunters , typhoon hunters , or cyclone hunters are aircrews that fly into tropical cyclones to gather weather data. In

371-570: A total land area of 6,423.4 square miles (16,636.5 km ). Except for Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, these islands and islets are administered as Hawaii —the 50th state of the United States. The eight major islands of Hawaii (Windward Islands) are listed above. All except Kaho'olawe are inhabited. The state of Hawaii counts 137 "islands" in the Hawaiian chain. This number includes all minor islands (small islands), islets (even smaller islands) offshore of

424-589: Is relatively fluid compared with magmas typically involved in more explosive eruptions, such as the andesitic magmas that produce some of the spectacular and dangerous eruptions around the margins of the Pacific basin. Hawaiʻi island (the Big Island) is the biggest and youngest island in the chain, built from five volcanoes. Mauna Loa , taking up over half of the Big Island, is the largest shield volcano on

477-717: The Government Flying Service of Hong Kong (GFS) have conducted regular flight data collection in cooperation with the Hong Kong Observatory . In 2011, the cooperation between GFS and the Observatory extended to reconnaissance flights to capture weather data for tropical cyclones over the South China Sea . In September 2016 they introduced the dropsonde system, which collects extra meteorological data on tropical cyclones to enhance

530-533: The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory run by the USGS . Hawaii accounted for 7.3% of the United States' reported earthquakes with a magnitude 3.5 or greater from 1974 to 2003, with a total 1533 earthquakes. Hawaii ranked as the state with the third most earthquakes over this time period, after Alaska and California . On October 15, 2006, there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 off

583-963: The NOAA Hurricane Hunters , originally based at the Aircraft Operations Center at MacDill AFB , in Tampa , Florida , mainly perform surveillance, research, and reconnaissance with highly instrumented aircraft including airborne Doppler weather radar measurements in both Atlantic and Pacific storms. In June 2017 the Hunters moved into a new facility at Lakeland Linder International Airport in Lakeland, Florida, having been at MacDill since 1993. They fly two Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft, heavily instrumented flying laboratories modified to take atmospheric and radar measurements within tropical cyclones and winter storms, and

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636-620: The North Pacific Ocean , extending some 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from the island of Hawaiʻi in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll . Formerly called the Sandwich Islands by Europeans (not by Kānaka Maoli , the people native to the islands), the present name for the archipelago is derived from the name of its largest island, Hawaiʻi. The archipelago sits on the Pacific plate . The islands are exposed peaks of

689-598: The Society Islands around 1025 to 1120 C.E., and in the Marquesas Islands sometime between 1100 and 1200 C.E. Polynesians arrived sometime between 940 and 1200 AD. Kamehameha I , the ruler of the island of Hawaii, conquered and unified the islands for the first time, establishing the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1795. The kingdom became prosperous and important for its agriculture and strategic location in

742-564: The list of extinct animals of the Hawaiian Islands . As of 2009 , many of the remaining endemic species are considered endangered . On June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush issued a public proclamation creating Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The Monument encompasses the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and surrounding waters, forming the largest marine wildlife reserve in

795-510: The trade winds on their north and east flanks (the windward side) as a result of orographic precipitation . Coastal areas in general and especially the south and west flanks, or leeward sides, tend to be drier. In general, the lowlands of Hawaiian Islands receive most of their precipitation during the winter months (October to April). Drier conditions generally prevail from May to September. The tropical storms , and occasional hurricanes , tend to occur from July through November. During

848-641: The 1820s based on a census conducted by American missionaries, 82,203 in the 1850 Hawaiian Kingdom census, 40,622 in the final Hawaiian Kingdom census of 1890, 39,504 in the sole census by the Republic of Hawaii in 1896, and 37,656 in the first census conducted by the United States in 1900. Thereafter the Native Hawaiian population in Hawaii increased with every census, reaching 680,442 in 2020 (including people of mixed heritage). In 1893 Queen Liliʻuokalani

901-489: The Big Island. The volcanoes on the remaining islands are extinct as they are no longer over the Hawaii hotspot. The Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount is an active submarine volcano that is expected to become the newest Hawaiian island when it rises above the ocean's surface in 10,000–100,000 years. Hazards from these volcanoes include lava flows that can destroy and bury the surrounding surface, volcanic gas emissions, earthquakes and tsunamis listed above, submarine eruptions affecting

954-625: The Earth. The measurement from sea level to summit is more than 2.5 miles (4 km), from sea level to sea floor about 3.1 miles (5 km). The Hawaiian Islands have many earthquakes , generally triggered by and related to volcanic activity. Seismic activity, as a result, is currently highest in the southern part of the chain. Both historical and modern earthquake databases have correlated higher magnitude earthquakes with flanks of active volcanoes, such as Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The combination of erosional forces, which cause slumping and landslides, with

1007-656: The Hawaiian Islands is a topic of continuing debate. Archaeological evidence seems to indicate a settlement as early as 124 AD. Captain James Cook , RN , visited the islands on January 18, 1778, and named them the "Sandwich Islands" in honor of The 4th Earl of Sandwich , who as the First Lord of the Admiralty was one of his sponsors. This name was in use until the 1840s, when the local name "Hawaii" gradually began to take precedence. The Hawaiian Islands have

1060-419: The Hawaiian Islands. Explosive volcanic activity can cause tsunamis. The island of Molokaʻi had a catastrophic collapse or debris avalanche over a million years ago; this underwater landslide likely caused tsunamis. The Hilina Slump on the island of Hawaiʻi is another potential place for a large landslide and resulting tsunami. The city of Hilo on the Big Island has been most affected by tsunamis, where

1113-625: The Pacific. Kamehameha was aided by European military technology that became available once an expedition led by British explorer James Cook reached the islands in 1778, the first sustained contact with Europeans. American immigration, led by Protestant missionaries , and Native Hawaiian emigration, mostly on whaling ships but also in high numbers as indentured servants and as forced labour, began almost immediately after Cook's arrival. Americans established plantations to grow crops for export. Their farming methods required substantial labor. Waves of permanent immigrants came from Japan , China , and

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1166-612: The Philippines to work in the cane and pineapple fields. The government of Japan organized and gave special protection to its people, who comprised about 25 percent of the Hawaiian population by 1896. The Hawaiian monarchy encouraged this multi-ethnic society, initially establishing a constitutional monarchy in 1840 that promised equal voting rights regardless of race, gender, or wealth. The population of Native Hawaiians declined precipitously from an unknown number prior to 1778 (estimated to be around 300,000). It fell to around 142,000 in

1219-446: The Project also began to create computer models of hurricane circulation, formulated a statistical track program (NHC-64), wrote a manual on hurricane forecasting, and evaluate the accuracy of track forecasts. Starting with Hurricane Esther (1961) , NHRP was heavily involved with Project Stormfury , the U. S. Government's experiment in hurricane modification. They seeded hurricane Beulah in 1963, but had to wait six more years before

1272-655: The USAFR 53rd WRS, entitled Hurricane Hunters , debuted on The Weather Channel in July 2012. The story of the NOAA flight during Hurricane Hugo was shown as part of the Mayday television show on the during 2015 . Notes Bibliography Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( Hawaiian : Mokupuni Hawaiʻi ) are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands , several atolls , and numerous smaller islets in

1325-584: The United States, the organizations that fly these missions are the United States Air Force Reserve 's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's Hurricane Hunters . Such missions have also been flown by Navy units and other Air Force and NOAA units. Other organizations also fly these missions, such as Government Flying Service Hong Kong . The first crewed flight into

1378-414: The absence of such predators. The growing population of humans, especially through European and American colonisation and development, has also led to deforestation , forest degradation , treeless grasslands, and environmental degradation . As a result, many species which depended on forest habitats and food became extinct—with many current species facing extinction. As humans cleared land for farming with

1431-668: The especially unpredictable nature of the forces that trigger earthquakes, and partially because these events occur at relatively shallow depths. Flank earthquakes typically occur at depths ranging from 5 to 20 km, increasing the hazard to local infrastructure and communities. Earthquakes and landslides on the island chain have also been known to cause tsunamis . Most of the early earthquake monitoring took place in Hilo , by missionaries Titus Coan and Sarah J. Lyman and her family. Between 1833 and 1896, approximately 4 or 5 earthquakes were reported per year. Today, earthquakes are monitored by

1484-707: The eye of the storm. After he returned safely with navigator Lt. Ralph O'Hair, the base's weather officer, Lt. William Jones-Burdick, took over the navigator's seat and Duckworth flew into the storm a second time. This flight showed that hurricane reconnaissance flights were possible, and further flights continued occasionally. In 1946, the moniker "Hurricane Hunters" was first used, and the Air Force and now Air Force Reserve have used it ever since. The flights demonstrated that hurricane reconnaissance flights were feasible. The United States Navy's VW-4 / WEARECORON FOUR Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Four, "Hurricane Hunters"

1537-486: The first intentional meteorological flight into a hurricane. It started with a bet. That summer, British pilots were being trained in instrument flying at Bryan Field . When they saw that the Americans were evacuating their AT-6 Texan trainers in the face of the storm, they began questioning the construction of the aircraft. Lead instructor Colonel Joe Duckworth took one of the trainers out and flew it straight into

1590-618: The first time. In 1959, the Project was moved to Miami and collocated with the Miami hurricane forecast office. Simpson left the Project to complete his doctoral degree and Robert Cecil Gentry was appointed NHRP director. The Department of Commerce leased two Douglas DC-6 aircraft and received a Martin B-57 Canberra jet from the Air Force so that NHRP could continue to carry out airborne experiments on hurricanes. The combination of research project, forecast center, and aircraft facility

1643-473: The importation of industrialized farming practices through European and American encroachment, monocultural crop production replaced multi-species systems . The arrival of the Europeans had a more significant impact, with the promotion of large-scale single-species export agriculture and livestock grazing. This led to increased clearing of forests, and the development of towns, adding many more species to

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1696-457: The in-rushing water is accentuated by the shape of Hilo Bay . Coastal cities have tsunami warning sirens. A tsunami resulting from an earthquake in Chile hit the islands on February 27, 2010. It was relatively minor, but local emergency management officials utilized the latest technology and ordered evacuations in preparation for a possible major event. The Governor declared it a "good drill" for

1749-483: The interior barometric pressure of a hurricane and provide accurate wind speed data, information needed to accurately predict hurricane development and movement. The Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron , the world's only operational military weather reconnaissance unit, is based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi ; most weather recon flights originate there. The term "hurricane hunters"

1802-546: The major islands (listed above), and individual islets in each atoll. These are just a few: Partial islands, atolls, reefs—those west of Niʻihau are uninhabited except Midway Atoll—form the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Leeward Islands): This chain of islands, or archipelago , developed as the Pacific plate slowly moved northwestward over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle at a rate of approximately 32 miles (51 km) per million years. Thus,

1855-634: The monitoring of typhoons . Among the types of aircraft that have been used to investigate hurricanes, are an instrumented Lockheed U-2 flown in Hurricane Ginny during the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season . Other types include the A-20 Havoc , 1944; B-24 , 1944–1945; B-17 , 1945–1947; B-25 , 1946–1947; B-29 , 1946–1947. WB-29 , 1951–1956; WB-50 , 1956–1963; WB-47 , 1963–1969; WC-121N 1954–1973; WC-130A, B, E, H , 1965–2012. The idea of aircraft reconnaissance of hurricane storm trackers

1908-486: The next major event. A tsunami resulting from an earthquake in Japan hit the islands on March 11, 2011. It was relatively minor, but local officials ordered evacuations in preparation for a possible major event. The tsunami caused about $ 30.1 million in damages. Only the two Hawaiian islands furthest to the southeast have active volcanoes: Haleakalā on Maui, and Mauna Loa , Mauna Kea , Kilauea , and Hualalai , all on

1961-606: The northwest coast of the island of Hawaii, near the Kona area. The initial earthquake was followed approximately five minutes later by a magnitude 5.7 aftershock . Minor to moderate damage was reported on most of the Big Island. Several major roadways became impassable from rock slides, and effects were felt as far away as Honolulu , Oahu, nearly 150 miles (240 km) from the epicenter . Power outages lasted for several hours to days. Several water mains ruptured. No deaths or life-threatening injuries were reported. On May 4, 2018, there

2014-479: The ocean, and the possibility of an explosive eruption. There is no definitive date for the Polynesian discovery of Hawaii . However, high-precision radiocarbon dating in Hawaii using chronometric hygiene analysis, and taxonomic identification selection of samples, puts the initial such settlement of the Hawaiian Islands sometime between 940-1250 C.E., originating from earlier settlements first established in

2067-402: The pressure exerted by rising magma put a great amount of stress on the volcanic flanks. The stress is released when the slope fails, or slips, causing an earthquake. This type of seismicity is unique because the forces driving the system are not always consistent over time, since rates of volcanic activity fluctuate. Seismic hazard near active, seaward volcanic flanks is high, partially because of

2120-480: The sole exception of Midway Atoll (a United States Minor Outlying Island ). Hawaii is the only U.S. state that is situated entirely on an archipelago, and the only state not geographically connected with North America . The Northwestern islands (sometimes called the Leeward Islands) and surrounding seas are protected as a National Monument and World Heritage Site . The date of the first settlements of

2173-413: The southeast island is volcanically active, whereas the islands on the northwest end of the archipelago are older and typically smaller, due to longer exposure to erosion . The age of the archipelago has been estimated using potassium-argon dating methods. From this study and others, it is estimated that the northwesternmost island, Kure Atoll , is the oldest at approximately 28 million years (Ma); while

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2226-406: The southeasternmost island, Hawaiʻi , is approximately 0.4 Ma (400,000 years). The only active volcanism in the last 200 years has been on the southeastern island, Hawaiʻi, and on the submerged but growing volcano to the extreme southeast, Kamaʻehuakanaloa (formerly Loʻihi). The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory of the USGS documents recent volcanic activity and provides images and interpretations of

2279-628: The strongest storm to ever impact the U.S. On September 1, the storm moved through The Bahamas where it was estimated to be at hurricane strength. As a result, ships began to avoid the Florida Straits , depriving the Weather Bureau of valuable information. This led to confusion as the Weather Bureau believed it would continue on its westward path and make landfall in Cuba while the Cuba weather service didn't see any evidence for this. On September 2,

2332-532: The turbine-propeller Lockheed WP-3A Orion . The landfall of Hurricane Katrina on 29 August 2005 devastated Keesler Air Force Base , home of the 53rd WRS. The equipment and personnel of the squadron were flying out of Dobbins Air Reserve Base near Atlanta . Despite heavy equipment losses, the squadron never missed a mission from the National Hurricane Center . The 53rd has since returned to Keesler. A reality television series featuring

2385-523: The volcanism. Kīlauea had been erupting nearly continuously since 1983 when it stopped August 2018. Almost all of the magma of the hotspot has the composition of basalt , and so the Hawaiian volcanoes are composed almost entirely of this igneous rock. There is very little coarser-grained gabbro and diabase . Nephelinite is exposed on the islands but is extremely rare. The majority of eruptions in Hawaiʻi are Hawaiian-type eruptions because basaltic magma

2438-420: The world. In August 2010, UNESCO 's World Heritage Committee added Papahānaumokuākea to its list of World Heritage Sites . On August 26, 2016, former President Barack Obama greatly expanded Papahānaumokuākea, quadrupling it from its original size. The Hawaiian Islands are tropical but experience many different climates, depending on altitude and surroundings. The islands receive most rainfall from

2491-522: Was a 6.9 earthquake in the zone of volcanic activity from Kīlauea . Earthquakes are monitored by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory run by the USGS . The Hawaiian Islands are subject to tsunamis , great waves that strike the shore. Tsunamis are most often caused by earthquakes somewhere in the Pacific. The waves produced by the earthquakes travel at speeds of 400–500 miles per hour (600–800 km/h) and can affect coastal regions thousands of miles (kilometers) away. Tsunamis may also originate from

2544-486: Was dubbed the " National Hurricane Center " (NHC). This has caused later confusion, since 1967 the NHC name has been used exclusively by the forecast center. However the Project and Research Flight Facility (RFF) remained separate entities, with their own personnel, budgets, and objectives. During the 1960s, while NHRP continued to carry out research flights into hurricanes Donna (1960), Cleo (1964), and Betsy (1965),

2597-759: Was first applied to its missions in 1946. The USAFR hurricane hunters fly weather missions in an area midway through the Atlantic Ocean to the Hawaiian Islands , and have on occasion flown into typhoons in the Pacific Ocean and gathered data in winter storms. The 53rd WRS hurricane hunters operate ten Lockheed WC-130J aircraft, which fly directly into hurricanes, typically penetrating the hurricane's eye several times per mission at altitudes between 500 feet (150 m) and 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The civilian and NOAA Corps crew members of

2650-795: Was illegally deposed and placed under house arrest by businessmen (who included members of the Dole family ) with help from the U.S. Marines . The Republic of Hawaii governed for a short time until Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898 as the Territory of Hawaii . In 1959, the islands became the 50th American state . The islands are home to a multitude of endemic species. Since human settlement, first by Polynesians , non native trees, plants, and animals were introduced. These included species such as rats and pigs, that have preyed on native birds and invertebrates that initially evolved in

2703-691: Was put forth by Captain W. L. Farnsworth of the Galveston Commercial Association in the early 1930s. Supported by the United States Weather Bureau , the "storm patrol bill" passed both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives on June 15, 1936. The first time a reconnaissance flight took place with the sole purpose of locating a hurricane was during the 1935 Great Labor Day Hurricane , which would later become

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2756-481: Was relayed to the Weather Bureau, which immediately put warnings out for the Florida Keys. The storm would make landfall later that day. Capt. Povey urged Congress and the Weather Bureau to implement full-time reconnaissance planes, but to no avail. A plan was laid out to use Coast Guard cutters, but was never implemented. The 1943 Surprise Hurricane , which struck Houston, Texas , during World War II, marked

2809-578: Was the seventh U.S. Navy squadron dedicated to weather reconnaissance. They flew several types of aircraft, but the WC-121N "Willy Victor" was the aircraft most often associated with flying into the "eye of the storm." The squadron operated WC-121s between late 1954 and 1972. VW-4 lost one aircraft and crew in a penetration of Hurricane Janet , and another to severe damage in a storm, but the severely damaged Willy Victor (MH-1) brought her crew home, although she never flew again. During 1973–1975, VW-4 operated

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