Here’s why hurricane hunters fly their planes in weird patterns into storms
An older article about the different flight patterns used by hurricane hunters.
Hurricane hunters employ specific flight patterns to gather crucial data on storms, with NOAA and USAF using different methods. Fixed missions, like the Alpha pattern, focus on established tropical cyclones, while invest missions, such as the X, Delta, and Box patterns, aim to determine if a system qualifies as a tropical cyclone. NOAA also conducts research-oriented missions, like the Figure 4 and Butterfly patterns, to find storm centers and synoptic missions to sample the surrounding atmosphere. These missions provide essential data for the National Hurricane Center to issue life-saving advisories.