Tropical Atlantic

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Hurricane hunter reconnaissance data and models. Website: https://tropicalatlantic.com/ Backup systems hosted at: @hurricanecity.com Our site is not affiliated with any governmental entity.

As what is left of post-tropical cyclone Melissa moves rapidly off into the northern Atlantic east of Canada, we look back at the missions into Melissa as a tropical cyclone. The Air Force and NOAA hurricane hunters conducted 33 missions into, and around, Melissa. They surveyed the storm from the time it was a tropical storm and throughout its rapid intensification into one of the most intense tropical cyclones ever recorded. Its turbulence was so intense at times that multiple aircraft had to return early for safety to be inspected after passing through its intense eyewall. Melissa made landfall at its peak intensity in New Hope, Jamaica with sustained winds of 185 mph and a pressure of 892 millibars. By both metrics Melissa tied, in both sustained wind speed and lowest mean sea level pressure, as the most intense tropical cyclone to ever make landfall on record in the Atlantic. (tying the landfalling wind speed of Hurricane Dorian in 2019 in the Bahamas and tying the landfalling pressure of the Labor Day hurricane in 1935 in the Florida Keys) The hurricane hunters continued their missions into the storm as long as it remained a threat to land as a tropical cyclone. The storm also had impacts in Hispaniola, Cuba, the Bahamas and Bermuda before becoming extratropical and passing east of Newfoundland in Canada. (impacted areas include areas where it did not make landfall) (A description of what appears in the map appears in the alternate text for image two.)
Satellite image of Hurricane Melissa at landfall in Jamaica from: https://rammb-slider.cira.colostate.edu/
"A 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron crew (call sign TEAL 75), known as the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters, is returning to it's forward operating location in Curaçao after encountering heavy turbulence today while entering the eye of Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm. During the event, the aircraft briefly experienced forces stronger than normal due to turbulence. While this does not automatically indicate damage, standard safety procedures require an inspection before returning to operations. The 53rd WRS is an Air Force Reserve unit assigned to the 403rd Wing, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss."
Air Force mission through 9:37am EDT. NOAA mission through 9:33am EDT.
Image with the message: "Disclaimer about estimated surface wind data from the SFMR instrument: SFMR data is estimated based on the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer instrument. Surface winds are estimated from that instrument. At higher values, any available SFMR surface wind data may be less reliable compared to estimates in storms with lesser winds. Please use SFMR readings with caution if they do not correlate well to the flight level wind. This note is automatically made more prominent in our recon system in some cases. It does not necessarily indicate that the data is inaccurate, but instead that the data should be interpreted with more caution."
From: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2025/ERIN_graphics.php?product=current_wind
About: This image contains some of the U.S. Air Force and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hurricane hunter reconnaissance that occurred around the Gulf of Mexico for storms in the North Atlantic basin for the 2024 hurricane season. It only includes the recon our site processed. Each white icon indicates the pressure, in millibars, that was reported in a vortex message during a center pass of the tropical cyclone being investigated. Best track data (storm tracks) is from the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting (ATCF) System. This image may be used with or without attribution for free. Our site is not affiliated with any governmental entity. Credits: • Google Earth Pro (program) • NASA (Blue Marble background) • Natural Earth (world coastlines) • NOAA and U.S. Air Force (raw hurricane hunter text data) • Tropical Atlantic (Google Earth files created from raw hurricane hunter data)
About: This image contains some of the U.S. Air Force and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hurricane hunter reconnaissance that occurred in the North Atlantic basin for the 2024 hurricane season. The image only contains Atlantic recon. It only includes the recon our site processed: • 152 National Hurricane Center (NHC) tasked missions into storms that were either named at the time or would eventually be named. • 5 non-tasked missions for the same kind of storms. • 2 missions for an area that was, or would eventually become, Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight. (that did not develop into a depression or higher) • 4 total missions into two suspect areas (invests) that did not develop. A variety of other missions occur throughout the year, including winter missions, training missions, research projects and others. Only data from one of the ten Air Force WC-130J, two NOAA P-3 and one NOAA G-IV aircraft appear in the image. This image may be used with or without attribution for free. Our site is not affiliated with any governmental entity. Credits: • Google Earth Pro (program) • NASA (Blue Marble background) • Natural Earth (world coastlines) • NOAA and U.S. Air Force (raw hurricane hunter text data) • Tropical Atlantic (Google Earth files created from raw hurricane hunter data)
Video contains some of Air Force and NOAA hurricane hunter reconnaissance that occurred in the North Atlantic basin for the 2024 hurricane season. Best track data (storm tracks) is from the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting (ATCF) System. This video only includes the recon our site processed: • 152 National Hurricane Center (NHC) tasked missions into storms that were either named at the time or would eventually be named. • 5 non-tasked missions for the same kind of storms. • 2 missions for an area that was, or would eventually become, Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight. (that did not develop into a depression or higher) • 4 total missions into two suspect areas (invests) that did not develop. A variety of other missions occur throughout the year, including winter missions, training missions, research projects and others. Only data from one of the ten Air Force WC-130J, two NOAA P-3 and one NOAA G-IV aircraft appear in this video.
The image shows "Key Messages" from the National Hurricane Center on this system. "Key Messages", in text format, can be found at the bottom of the National Hurricane Center "Discussion". To find that, click the "Discussion" link in the storm's section on their front page. This image is generated by the National Hurricane Center and can be found under the "Graphics" link on their page in the same storm section where you can find the "Discussion" link.
The image shows "Key Messages" from the National Hurricane Center on this system. "Key Messages", in text format, can be found at the bottom of the National Hurricane Center "Discussion". To find that, click the "Discussion" link in the storm's section on their front page. This image is generated by the National Hurricane Center and can be found under the "Graphics" link on their page in the same storm section where you can find the "Discussion" link.
The image shows "Key Messages" from the National Hurricane Center on this developing system. "Key Messages", in text format, can be found at the bottom of the National Hurricane Center "Discussion". To find that, click the "Discussion" link under the storm's name on their front page. This image is generated by the National Hurricane Center and can be found under the "Graphics" link on their page in the same place where you can find the "Discussion" link.
A composite image on a map of all 31 hurricane hunter missions into Hurricane Beryl from the Air Force and NOAA hurricane hunters. At each coordinate for which there is data an icon displays either what some of that data is or the type of data available at that particular coordinate. When the data is viewed in Google Earth, where this screenshot was made, a user can click a point to view that data.