Friday, September 2, 2005

	Today there were no flights planned for any of the P-3Ős.  Keesler AFB, home 
of the Air Force 53rd Reconnaissance Squadron, was seriously damaged by Hurricane 
Katrina.  In consideration of the personal needs of the 53rd personnel and because their 
aircraft have been diverted to flying humanitarian missions as their top priority, the two 
AOC P-3Ős have been designated as primary for reconnaissance tasking.  This means that 
the NOAA P-3Ős will be tasked for invest and reconnaissance missions in developing 
systems near the coast.  For more mature hurricanes, the Air Force C-130Ős will be 
available.
	In the tropics, T.D. #14 is still present, though has shown little signs of 
strengthening.  Convection is still displaced to the northwest (Fig. 74).  There is some 
moderate southeasterly shear (Fig. 75) and dry air over this system, preventing much 
development from occurring.  The low-level steering flow (Fig. 76) indicates that T.D. 
#14 will move toward the north-northwest around 50 W, where it may enter a more 
favorable environment for development.  Following this motion, T.D. #14 would be out 
of range for any IFEX or RAINEX objectives.
	 

 

Figure 74.  GOES-East Visible image valid 1115 UTC September 2.  

 

Figure 75.  CIMSS-derived 850-200 hPa wind shear (shading, kt) valid 09 UTC 
September 3.


 

Figure 76.  CIMSS-derived layer-average 700-850 hPa winds (kt) valid 09 UTC 
September 3.