Col. Elissa D. Granderson, 403rd Operations Group commander, flies a weather reconnaissance mission into Hurricane Milton Oct. 8, 2024. Aircrews with 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, or Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters, flew missions around the clock from Oct. 6-9, 2024 into Hurricane Milton to gather vital weather data for National Hurricane Center forecasts. (Mark Withee/U.S. Air Force)

The end of November marked the formal end of the Atlantic and Pacific hurricane seasons, and with it the end of another active season for the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, according to a U.S. Air Force news release.

The squadron, based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., is better known as the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters. The Hurricane Hunters fly WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft to collect weather data for the National Hurricane Center, working in conjunction with the NOAA.

While the collection of weather data is an interagency effort, the Hurricane Hunters provide an essential piece of the data. The interagency structure requires the squadron to support continuous 24-hour-per-day operations; of the hundreds of tropical cyclone reconnaissance hours flown by the 53rd WRS and the NOAA this season, the 53rd flew about 70%.

During the 2024 active season, the unit flew 107 missions into 14 major storms — 12 of the Atlantic’s 18 named storms and two of the Pacific’s 13 tropical cyclones, the release said.

Though each hurricane season is unique, the 2024 season was still unusual, according to Lt. Col. Jeff Mitchell, 53rd WRS director of operations.

It got an unusually strong start — Hurricane Beryl in June was the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record — and an unusually energetic finish with Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The accumulated cyclone energy for the season was a third above the average, with Milton being the fifth or sixth strongest Atlantic hurricane on record (depending on the measurement).

The Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flew a weather reconnaissance mission into Hurricane Helene Sept. 26, 2024. Aircrews flew missions around the clock from Sept. 23 to 26, 2024 into Hurricane Helene to gather vital weather data for National Hurricane Center forecasts. (Mark Withee/U.S. Air Force)

Members from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flew through Hurricane Milton, Oct. 8, 2024. (Mark Withee/U.S. Air Force)

The Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flew a weather reconnaissance mission into Hurricane Helene, Sept. 26, 2024. (Mark Withee/U.S. Air Force)

The 2024 season was not simply unusual by weather metrics, but in its impact on the ground: Milton and Helene each are believed to have resulted in tens of billions in damages, with Helene becoming the deadliest storm to hit the mainland U.S. in 20 years.

Mitigating this human cost is a key function of the USAF Reserve Hurricane Hunters.

“Storm models are great at predicting the future path of storms once they form however, they remain reliant on one crucial element, the data from our aircraft,” Mitchell said in the release.

The Hurricane Hunters are now transitioning to their winter storm operations. Like the hurricane season operations, it will entail working across a massive area that covers both coasts of the U.S.

Below: the squadron’s last mission of the 2024 active hurricane season, into Hurricane Rafael. (Credit: Mark Withee/U.S. Air Force.)