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How do we know about clouds?
Studying clouds from the air Below are excerpts from Steve Hodanish's first-hand account of flying through Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which he participated in as a graduate student at Colorado State University ...
"On September 13, 1988, I was lucky (very, very lucky) enough to be on the
research aircraft that flew into Hurricane Gilbert. This flight recorded the
lowest barometric pressure ever for a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Basin -
Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, etc. - 888 mb. Winds of 175 mph
sustained, with gusts to 199 mph, were also recorded."
About flying through the eye:
"Out ahead of me I could see IT - the wall - a large gray mass of heavy rain, extreme wind and good turbulence! ... It was also obvious that the eye was small - 10 kilometers (6 miles) across - a good sign that the storm would be very intense.
Suddenly, visibility went to zero. We were punching the eye-wall. ... The
equipment on the plane is shaking. People are excited! One lady grabs a barf
bag ... No fun! The cabin brightens; the winds go from 160 knots (184 mph) to
14 knots (16 mph) in 90 seconds. ... Winds drop to 3.4 knots (4 mph).
Pressure on the first eye penetration - 903 mb! Gilbert is now a Category 5
storm!
I look up at the sun and the blue sky and wonder in amazement. Then, I look down at the sea. Huge waves approximately 50 feet high and 200 yards across cover the ocean. They look like pancakes from our vantage - 2322 meters (about 1.5 miles) above ... Then I look down and to the left where the sea and the eye-wall meet. Streaks of foam circle the eye-wall. In seconds, visibility drops to zero. Winds increase to 132 knots (152 mph) in 80 seconds. This was our first eye penetration. We still had four to go!"
Studying clouds from the air Below are excerpts from Steve Hodanish's first-hand account of flying through Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which he participated in as a graduate student at Colorado State University ...
"On September 13, 1988, I was lucky (very, very lucky) enough to be on the
research aircraft that flew into Hurricane Gilbert. This flight recorded the
lowest barometric pressure ever for a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Basin -
Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, etc. - 888 mb. Winds of 175 mph
sustained, with gusts to 199 mph, were also recorded."About flying through the eye:
"Out ahead of me I could see IT - the wall - a large gray mass of heavy rain, extreme wind and good turbulence! ... It was also obvious that the eye was small - 10 kilometers (6 miles) across - a good sign that the storm would be very intense.
Suddenly, visibility went to zero. We were punching the eye-wall. ... The
equipment on the plane is shaking. People are excited! One lady grabs a barf
bag ... No fun! The cabin brightens; the winds go from 160 knots (184 mph) to
14 knots (16 mph) in 90 seconds. ... Winds drop to 3.4 knots (4 mph).
Pressure on the first eye penetration - 903 mb! Gilbert is now a Category 5
storm!I look up at the sun and the blue sky and wonder in amazement. Then, I look down at the sea. Huge waves approximately 50 feet high and 200 yards across cover the ocean. They look like pancakes from our vantage - 2322 meters (about 1.5 miles) above ... Then I look down and to the left where the sea and the eye-wall meet. Streaks of foam circle the eye-wall. In seconds, visibility drops to zero. Winds increase to 132 knots (152 mph) in 80 seconds. This was our first eye penetration. We still had four to go!"
On the fourth eye-wall penetration, Mr. Hodanish's flight recorded 199 mph
winds and, in the eye of the storm, the record low pressure of 888 mb. The old
record was 892 from the Labor Day storm of 1935. This record has since been
broken by Hurricane Wilma, which in October 2005 had an estimated pressure of
882
millibars
in the northwestern Caribbean Sea.
