Lt. Col. Dave Gentile, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron aircraft commander, and Maj. Alex Boykin, 53rd WRS pilot, steer a WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft inside the eye of Hurricane Ian Sept. 27, 2022. The WC-130J is specially equipped with a weather officer pallet, a dropsonde operator pallet, and a stepped frequency microwave radiometer allowing it to collect data in weather events and send it via satellite to forecasters and researches for use. ( Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
Hurricane Ian was a large, deadly and destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that caused widespread damage across the southeastern coast of the United States, especially the state of Florida after it made landfall in western Cuba. It was the ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season. Ian originated from a tropical wave that was located by the National Hurricane Center east of the Windward Islands on September 19, 2022. Two days later the wave moved into the Caribbean Sea bringing winds and heavy rain to the ABC islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and the northern coasts of Venezuela and Colombia on September 21–22. It showed signs of development into a tropical depression later that day, as convection increased and the system became more compact. After strengthening into Tropical Storm Ian, it became a hurricane as it neared the Cayman Islands, before rapidly intensifying to a high-end Category 3 hurricane as it made landfall in western Cuba. Significant storm surge and heavy rainfall affected Cuba and the entire province of Pinar del Río lost power. It slightly weakened during its time over land, but re-strengthened once it moved into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and over the Dry Tortugas, becoming a high-end Category 4 hurricane early on September 28, 2022, as it progressed towards the west coast of Florida. Ian remained at Category 4 strength as it made landfall in Southwest Florida on Cayo Costa Island, tying as the 5th-strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the contiguous United States.[4] After making a second landfall in Southwest Florida, Ian rapidly weakened to a tropical storm before moving back out into Atlantic, where the storm reintensified back to a hurricane and made landfall in South Carolina. Ian caused catastrophic damage in parts of Southwest Florida, mostly from flooding due to extreme storm surge and rainfall.
Size: 8256px × 5504px
Location: Gulf of Mexico
Photo credit: © American Photo Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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