Eye of Hurricane Beulah as seen from U-2 jet
On Aug. 23, 1963, Project STORMFURY (a joint Weather Bureau/U.S. Navy hurricane modification program) carried out the first of a two-day seeding experiment on Hurricane Beulah. At the time Beulah was nearly a thousand miles southeast of Bermuda and heading north. Eleven aircraft carried out elaborate monitoring patterns as Navy A3-D jets delivered 400 pounds of silver iodide to the hurricane’s eyewall. Little change was noted and, by the second day, the hurricane reached its peak intensity.
USWB DC-6s
This day also marks the first hurricane flight for STORMFURY’s scientific advisor Dr. Joanne Simpson. Although she had participated in the National Hurricane Research Project from its inception, Air Force rules had precluded her from engaging in storm flights aboard their aircraft. No such rules stood in her way in flying aboard the newly acquired Weather Bureau DC-6s for these experiments, however.
Bob and Joanne Simpson in front of
Navy Super Connie