{"id":67217,"date":"2026-05-26T15:38:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=67217"},"modified":"2026-05-26T15:38:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:38:46","slug":"noaa-hurricane-hunters-prepare-for-a-new-generation-of-aircraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/05\/26\/noaa-hurricane-hunters-prepare-for-a-new-generation-of-aircraft\/","title":{"rendered":"NOAA Hurricane Hunters Prepare For A New Generation Of Aircraft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Chris Elrod<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, the roar of NOAA\u2019s aging Hurricane Hunter aircraft has become synonymous with hurricane season. Now, the legendary fleet that flies directly into some of the world\u2019s most dangerous storms is preparing for a major upgrade. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has begun the process of replacing its decades-old Hurricane Hunter WP-3D Orion planes with a new generation of advanced aircraft designed to improve storm forecasting and research capabilities for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hurricane Hunter WP-3D Orion plane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In 2024, NOAA awarded a contract for two new Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules<\/strong> aircraft that will eventually replace the agency\u2019s iconic planes, known by their nicknames \u201cKermit\u201d and \u201cMiss Piggy.\u201d The current aircraft have been flying missions since the 1970s and remain critical tools for hurricane forecasting.\u00a0 The new C-130J Super Hercules aircraft will serve as flying laboratories equipped with upgraded radar systems, weather instruments, and data collection technology. NOAA officials say the aircraft will improve reliability, increase operational efficiency, and help scientists gather more detailed information from inside tropical systems. The planes will also provide the capabilities for launching state-of-the-art weather drones from the flight deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOAA is also acquiring two new Gulfstream G550 jets to replace the agency\u2019s aging Gulfstream IV aircraft, which flies high above storms collecting atmospheric data used in forecast models. According to federal oversight reports, the first G550 is expected to become mission-ready in 2026. These planes are also used for specialized studies of the jet stream over the western part of the United States in between hurricane seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hurricane Hunter WP-3D Orion plane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The aircraft upgrades come at a critical time as forecasters face increasingly complex and rapidly intensifying storms. Data collected by Hurricane Hunters helps the National Hurricane Center improve predictions for storm track and intensity, information used by emergency managers and residents preparing for landfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hurricane Hunter fleet operates out of Lakeland Linder Airport as their home base, where crews train year-round for missions that often place them in extreme turbulence, heavy rain, and hurricane-force winds. Scientists aboard the aircraft release drop meteorological instrument packs into storms to measure temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind speeds in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the arrival of new technology, the retirement of the current WP-3D aircraft will mark the end of an era in hurricane research aviation. The planes have become widely recognized not only for their scientific value, but also for the crews who fly directly into storms while most people evacuate from them. NOAA officials say the modernization effort will ensure the Hurricane Hunters remain capable of supporting life-saving forecasts well into the future, while continuing to advance scientific understanding of hurricanes and extreme weather.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hurricane Hunter WP-3D Orion plane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chris Elrod For decades, the roar of NOAA\u2019s aging Hurricane Hunter aircraft has become synonymous with hurricane season. Now, the legendary fleet that flies directly into some of the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDVcL0VQMjQ3NzAxLndlYnA_Zml0PTY0MCUyQzQyNyZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6Ik5PQUEgSHVycmljYW5lIEh1bnRlcnMgUHJlcGFyZSBGb3IgQSBOZXcgR2VuZXJhdGlvbiBPZiBBaXJjcmFmdCIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.iGJRKWjVJBO2w80a4jt4YMTtN2D4_LEc3G_mwKZgGFUMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA1XC9FUDI0NzcwMS53ZWJwIiwidHh0IjoiTk9BQSBIdXJyaWNhbmUgSHVudGVycyBQcmVwYXJlIEZvciBBIE5ldyBHZW5lcmF0aW9uIE9mIEFpcmNyYWZ0IiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.y2Vm-BIgu9Bk8Nch4BSv_1iJhXY5av2v0zsMEiXNeQMMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[14698],"class_list":["post-67217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-noaa-hurricane-hunters-prepare-for-a-new-generation-of-aircraft"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67227,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67217\/revisions\/67227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}