Hurricane hunters

Right before her Senate confirmation she says to me, "I need $100,000 to pay off my American Express card or I'm not going to become Greek ambassador." I said, "Kimberly, why should I do this for you?" And she told me, and it's in the text messages, "I'll be your ride or die forever in the Trump administration." There was no question it was a quid pro quo.

I bashed the Bidens all the time for what I saw as shadow criminality with Hunter and the family.

Well, what the Trumps are doing is just totally different.

They're adding to their wealth just out in the open.

Yeah, yeah.

So the hurricane hunters from the US Air Force are currently investigating Isaias.

Hurricane and storm surge watches in effect for portions of the Northern Gulf Coast.

So what does that mean? Well, right now there is literally a plane flying in the storm.

You're 100%.

Uh, 17% right now, so [laughs]

[laughs] Uh, while we wait for him to come back, let's, uh, let's look here at, uh, what the hurricane hunters are up to.

I just refreshed the page, tropicaltidbits.com, ingesting this from the ongoing, uh, aircraft reconnaissance mission right now inside the storm.

W- This is more positive.

Did you see this video, this is so cool, of these hurricane hunters flying into the eye of this hurricane? Uh, check this out, bro.

This is amazing.

Female pilot, by the way.

The ribbon is narrow, so a small error in how that ribbon is turning in the forecast makes a big deal on the ground.

To tackle this, the CW3E-led Atmospheric River Reconnaissance Program flies aircraft, including Air Force Hurricane Hunter planes and NOAA aircraft directly into these atmospheric rivers over the Pacific.

The planes drop instruments called dropsons.

They're small devices on parachutes that measure temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind as they fall through the storm.

It is the Weather Act reauthorization.

And we, as in AWEA, are very optimistic that Passage of that will be a big step forward for the weather enterprise, but you can see there's a National Weather Safety Board Act that Congressman Sorensen introduced that sort of plays off of the NTSB for aviation and transportation to really look at weather events and say, how can we learn from these extreme events and improve forecasts and services to communities? Hurricane Hunter aircraft, many of you may come upon the incredible videos and photos of the stadium effect when they punch through the inner eye wall of a hurricane.

Again, those aircraft are aging and so you need a recapitalization plan.

Next slide.

Where do we start with the accolades on this one, Emily?

Well, something that I noticed that was interesting is the hurricane hunters flew into it, and that's not something you normally see this time of year, is them headed to the West Coast to go fly into these storms.

They do that a lot in the winter for the atmospheric rivers.

But yeah, NOAA Hurricane Hunters flew into Polo, and I s- Did you see this video of, it's them flying into the eye, and it's wild.

This thing also went from like a tropical storm to a Cat 5 hurricane in record time.

I think 42 hours?

Yes

... as they're flying into it.

And right now at 9, we're tracking your top stories across the islands.

Hurricane hunters are activated to determine how much energy a developing tropical storm is packing before it reaches south of the Big Island.

Also ahead tonight, a world championship canoe race is canceled ahead of the expected severe weather.

And a man accused of killing a Maui police officer reveals his defense.

Oliver adds now is the time to use what was learned from the past to prepare for what's next.

John Tomasaki, Hawaii News Now.

And hurricane hunters will be flying into the developing tropical system aboard the WC-130J Super Hercules.

Members of the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron will gather critical information that can't be tracked by satellites to help forecasters at the National Hurricane Center.