Turks & Caicos included in Hurricane Hunter Aircraft Caribbean Tour

By Sherrica Thompson 

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, April 21, 2023 – Some fortunate students from the TCI, along with government officials and members of the media, will get to see and speak with crew members of a Hurricane Hunter aircraft this Friday, April 21 when they make a stop into the Turks and Caicos Islands as part of their Caribbean Tour.  Last visit was six years ago.

Hurricane Hunter aircraft are very important as they are flown directly into the eye of a storm to collect crucial data forecasting a hurricane’s intensity and landfall.  One report said, a typical weather reconnaissance mission lasts about 11 hours, covering almost 3,500 miles collecting and reporting weather data as often as every minute.  The aircraft penetrates hurricanes at an altitude of about 10,000 feet to collect data which contributes to the accuracy of hurricane predictions.

The tour will stop into the Provo Air Center at Old Airport Road.  It is part of a Hurricane Awareness Tour in Mexico and the Caribbean which is engineered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

The TCI leg of the expedition is being facilitated by the Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA).

The other Caribbean countries in the adventurous itinerary are the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

These tours are welcoming as we are just mere weeks from June 1, which is the official start of the Atlantic Basin Hurricane season.

So far, Colorado State University in the US has predicted a “Slightly Below Average” for the 2023 Hurricane Season, with 13 named storms, six of which, they say, will become hurricanes.