NOAA hurricane experts will travel aboard a NOAA WP-3 Orion turboprop Hurricane Hunter aircraft in a five-day, five-city tour of the Gulf Coast that includes a stop at Scholes International Airport in Galveston on April 15th from 3:00 to 4:30 pm.   

Bill Read, the new director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center; Jack Beven, Ph.D., senior hurricane specialist; and Eric Blake, hurricane specialist, will join the crew and scientists when the aircraft visits Corpus Christi, TX, Galveston, TX, New Orleans, LA, Apalachicola, FL and Ft. Myers, FL.  The public and media are invited to tour the aircraft and speak with the delegation.

"As we saw last year with Humberto, hurricanes can develop rather quickly close to our coastline," said Read.  "NOAA uses the hurricane awareness tour to get the message out to the communities that now is the time to prepare for a hurricane, rather than when a storm is at your doorstep." 

The hurricane awareness tour has been conducted for more than 25 years, alternating between Gulf and Atlantic coasts, and is followed by NOAA's hurricane hazard education campaign during national Hurricane Preparedness Week, May 25 to 31.  The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1.