Above normal temps now, wetter weather to come

We have been enjoying some beautiful late summer weather here in North Idaho. After that storm blew in on the last day of August, bringing with it nearly a half-inch of rain in some locations, we can feel a little less guilty about the current stretch of dry, sunny and warm weather. The storm boosted our final August rainfall total to .77 inch, well short of the 1.27 inch monthly average. The welcome rain last week unfortunately also brought some unwelcome severe weather, including hail up to an inch in diameter in the Spokane area and strong winds that resulted in trees and power lines down across the region. So far, September has continued to be on the dry side with temperatures slightly above normal. The Climate Prediction Center’s latest three-month outlook shows the potential for the area to get into a wetter pattern during the upcoming months. This should help the area recover from the current deficit of rainfall that currently has us more than 2 inches below normal for the calender year.

Active weather recently in the tropics, with hurricanes Felix from the Atlantic and Henriette from the Eastern Pacific, has brought flooding rains and mudslides to parts of Central America, mainland Mexico and Baja California. With tropical storm activity picking up and the potential for dangerous weather to occur across the U.S., it is crucial for the governmental weather agencies to use all resources available to gather information on these storms. In addition to satellite and radar technology, along with numerous computer models, another tactic is employed to gather information on hurricanes. “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft are routinely deployed into the heart of a storm, gathering detailed weather data to determine its strength, and also gathering more precise information to feed into the computer models, which can then produce more accurate forecast tracks. Scientists and pilots get firsthand knowledge of the inside of the storm by flying right into it. The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration utilizes two types of aircraft for these missions. The Gulfstream IV SP jet can fly high, fast, and far. It has a range of 4,000 nautical miles at a cruising altitude of 45,000 ft. It has flown missions around every Atlantic based hurricane that has posed a threat to the U.S. since 1997. Using a dropwindsonde, it gathers data such as pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind. It also maps the steering currents that influence the movement of hurricanes.

Low-altitude data are collected by NOAA’s two WP-3D Orion turboprop aircraft. With an average crew of 14 people, these aircraft slice through the eye-wall of a hurricane again and again over the course of a 10-hour mission in order to collect weather data that is used for NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division. Imagine the skill and composure needed to endure howling winds, blinding rain and hail, and violent updrafts and downdrafts that make up the eye-wall of a powerful hurricane.

For more information on “Hurricane Hunters” and to keep up with all the latest hurricane news and forecasts, you can visit the National Hurricane Center Web site at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/.