The hurricane hunters flew some 17 missions into Hurricane Dean. Here are some shots from the storm on August 17th as Dean was a catagory 3 hurricane making aim for the Costa Maya region of the Yucatan Peninsula.

 

 

 

 

 

One of our pilots monitors flight instruments through the HUD (heads up display) of the WC-130J aircraft as we fly through the storm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radar image showing concentric eyewalls. A large powerfull hurricane such as Dean will go through what is known as eyewall replacement cycles. As the eyewall constricts down on itself, eventually it will get too tight and the wind speeds too great to be supported by the pressure at the center. The inner wall will collapse as an outer wall develops and the process starts over again. Needless to say, the storm will undergo fluctuations in intensity during these cycles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A view looking up into the sky from the center of Dean's eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this view looking down at the ocean as we pass through the eye of the storm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a video clip put together from a flight into Hurricane Dean during its peak as a catagory 5 storm in the western Caribbean Sea on August 20th just before slamming into the Yucatan Peninsula. (Will require a browser plugin)

 

The first mission flown after Dean emerged from the Yucatan was on the 21st of August.

 

 

 

 

 

We were treated to a beautiful sunset as we approached the hurricane from the northeast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun shines through a line of convection as we pass a feeder band in the Bay of Campeche.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The aircraft radar shows some of the convection associated with Hurriane Dean. At this point, Dean had come off the west coast of the Yucatan peninsula and had lost a lot of its core energy. We could not find a eye on radar as we made each pass through the center.

This is a video report filed by Nola.Com in New Orleans LA after the flight through Dean in the Bay of Campeche on August 22nd.