US Air Force WC-130J crews fly into Tropical Storm Lala on Hawaii mission
Three WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flew from Mississippi to the Central Pacific to sample Tropical Storm Lala, marking the unit's third Hawaii deployment of 2026.
Three Lockheed Martin WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft left Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, on August 10 and headed west toward Hawaii to make repeated passes through Tropical Storm Lala in the Central Pacific.
The aircraft flew under the call signs TEAL81, TEAL82 and TEAL83 and belong to the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, an Air Force Reserve unit known as the Hurricane Hunters. According to the account of the mission, the squadron is the only Department of Defense organisation that still flies into tropical storms and hurricanes.
Over four days, the crews crossed Lala again and again at 10,000 feet, or 3,048 metres, dropping sondes that recorded wind speed, pressure, temperature and humidity between the aircraft's altitude and the ocean surface.
The deployment was the squadron's third to Hawaii in 2026, the source states.
Sources
- simpleflying.comTrack The Hurricane Hunters: Inside The WC-130Js That Fly Into Storms