EARTH Interviews NHC Director During Hurricane Awareness Tour

Alexandria, VA - As we approach the beginning of the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic hurricane seasons on May 15 and June 1, respectively, a group of pilots, meteorologists, and other hurricane experts have been jetting down the East Coast this week to boost public awareness of these hazardous storms.

The hurricane experts - from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other partner groups - have traveled over 2200 miles with a fleet of hurricane hunter aircraft for NOAA’s annual Hurricane Awareness Tour. The tour started Sunday, May 7 in Gander, Newfoundland, before moving on to additional stops, where organizers are offering behind-the-scenes looks at the impressive aircraft and instrumentation used in hurricane hunting, and discussing hurricane prediction and preparedness with schoolchildren, the public, and the media.

On May 9, EARTH News Editor Timothy Oleson went to check out the tour’s stop in Washington, D.C., at Ronald Reagan National Airport, where he sat down with NHC director Rick Knabb to learn more about the Hurricane Awareness Tour and efforts to track and forecast tropical storms.

“We’re so fortunate in this part of the world to have routine [storm] reconnaissance from NOAA and the Air Force,” Knabb remarked during the interview. “We’re using the best available technology to make the most accurate forecasts and warnings that we can, so that people know what’s coming and what they need to do. There really is a direct connection between what these planes do and your personal safety.”

Read the full interview online at https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/bare-earth-elements-tour-brings-hurricane-awareness . For more engaging content, subscribe to EARTH Magazine.