Hurricane Hunters patrol Gustav

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HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) --  Airmen from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" are flying daily weather reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Gustav from Homestead Air Reserve Base to aid the National Weather Service in providing the storm's projected path to the American public.

The squadron, a component of the 403rd Wing located at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., is the only operational unit in the world with aircrews flying weather reconnaissance on a routine basis. They provide surveillance of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Central Pacific for the National Hurricane Center. The unit's Airmen also fly winter storm missions off both coasts of the United States

This month, the Hurricane Hunters also have flown missions into Tropical Storm Fay, Tropical Storm Edouard and Hurricane Dolly to provide critical, real-time storm data to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

(Courtesy of the 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office)

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