Scientists Will Fly Through Pineapple Express Storm That’s Headed To The Northwest

Only a few people on earth have a job like this.

Your ‘day at the office’ means hopping on a jet where you and your crew aim for storms and fly right through them. 

You know before anyone else in the world what that storm is actually doing and the punch it will have when it reaches land.

The people with that job description are flying through a storm today. Not just any storm. But one that’s headed into Oregon and Washington with inches of rain and even flood potential for the Northwest.

Five Quick Facts About Flying Through Pacific Storms

1. You paid for today’s flight! NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is the parent to the National Weather Service which will use the real time information.
2. This Gulfstream IV jet is loaded with sensors and computers that track storm development.
3. That information travels by satellite into super computers.
4. Forecasters at the National Weather Service office in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington  use that information to forecast how much it will rain–or snow.
5. Pacific storms are much less studied than say, hurricanes, so this will improve our knowledge which improves forecasts. And remember, when these storms pass by us they keep heading east. So a better forecast for the Northwest can mean a better forecast for the rest of the country, too.

Stretches of wet weather like the incoming Pineapple express seem to be one of this winter’s trends. Read more about the Pacific Storm Flights if you want to.