Tuesday morning, the storm was categorized as a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds around 150 mph and hurricane-force winds extending up to 30 miles from its center.

“A large area of destructive storm surge, with highest inundations of 10 feet or greater, is expected along a portion of the west-central coast of the Florida Peninsula,” the National Weather Service said Tuesday, calling it “an extremely life-threatening situation.”

Here are the Tuesday 10 am CDT #Hurricane #Milton Key Messages – The latest full advisory is at https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ pic.twitter.com/rNlYvXT3XV

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 8, 2024

Tampa International Airport (KTPA) suspended all commercial and cargo operations as of 9 a.m. EST Tuesday. 

“The airport will remain closed to the public until it can assess any damage after the storm,” the airport said in a statement.

The airport’s parking garages were also closed, and officials said it could not be used as a shelter because it is located in the “A” mandatory zone and “will not be staffed to assist others with supplies or assistance, nor will emergency services be able to respond to calls or transport individuals to or from the airport.”

• READ MORE: NASA Postpones Europa Clipper Launch as Hurricane Milton Takes Aim at Cape Canaveral

Airport staff have been scrambling to prepare the airfield to minimize the damage from the storm. The airport is managed by the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, which is also closing Peter O. Knight (KTPF), Tampa Executive (KVDF), and Plant City (KPCM).

St. Pete-Clearwater International (KPIE) in Pinellas County is also located in a mandatory evacuation zone. The airport said it would close after the last flight departed Tuesday and would remain shuttered Wednesday and Thursday because of the storm.

Hurricane Milton Update – The airport terminal will close after the last flight on Tuesday and remain closed Wednesday and Thursday. The airport is in a mandatory evacuation zone and is not a public shelter. Prepare and stay safe.

— St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (@iflypie) October 7, 2024

Orlando International Airport (KMCO) said it will stop operations Wednesday at 8 a.m. EST, although, according to a press release from the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA), the airport will remain open to emergency/aid and relief flights. The airport is not a shelter, and officials said commercial flights will resume when it is deemed safe to do so pending damage assessment and weather.

Operational Update/4 – Hurricane Milton
On Wednesday, at 8 a.m., commercial operations will cease at our airport. We'll continue to monitor the hurricane's path and we'll post updates as they become available. Please continue to work with your airline in regards to your flight. pic.twitter.com/lM8qaL8s7v

— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) October 7, 2024

At Miami International Airport (KMIA), the largest and busiest airport in the Sunshine State, officials said they were “closely monitoring” the storm and encouraged travelers to check with the airlines to confirm flight status before venturing to the airport.

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (KSRQ) said it would close at 4 p.m. Tuesday EST, however, many flights had already been canceled.  

The FAA’s full list of  current airport closures may be found here.

SRQ is open until 4pm today and many flights have already been canceled.

We urge you to check with your airline directly to confirm if your flight is operating.

The airport will be closed tomorrow, October 9th and Thursday, October 10th.

#FlySRQ pic.twitter.com/B2x1NDFegK

— SRQ Airport (@SRQAirport) October 8, 2024

Milton is also impacting recreational flying. In Lakeland, Florida, the Flightoberfest festivities scheduled for Saturday on the Sun ’n Fun campus have been postponed, per a statement on the website.

“Our primary concern is the safety of our staff and guests,” event organizers said. The event has been rescheduled for November 16. 

The post Hurricane Milton Triggers Florida Airport Closures appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The spacecraft had been scheduled to launch Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The highly anticipated mission is seeking to find out whether Europa and its subsurface ocean could support life.

But on Sunday, NASA and SpaceX announced they would be standing down the launch attempt “due to anticipated hurricane conditions in the area.”

Workers have secured the Europa Clipper craft in SpaceX’s hangar at Launch Complex 39A at KSC, NASA said, and the center began preparing for Hurricane Milton that day.

“The safety of launch team personnel is our highest priority, and all precautions will be taken to protect the Europa Clipper spacecraft,” said Tim Dunn, senior launch director at NASA’s Launch Services Program, in a statement.

The announcement came as Milton was rapidly intensifying from a tropical storm into one of the strongest hurricanes on record. On Monday evening, the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center reported Milton was a “potentially catastrophic” Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 165 mph (270 km/h), threatening the northern coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

NASA’s Crew-8 mission has also been impacted by Hurricane Milton. The SpaceX Dragon capsule was scheduled to splash down Tuesday off the Florida coast carrying three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut, all of whom have completed a crew rotation at the International Space Station that began in March. The Crew-8 undocking has now been postponed to no earlier than Sunday.

KSC Will Face Weakened Milton

Milton’s winds are forecast to ease slightly before making landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a still-deadly Category 3 hurricane late Wednesday or early Thursday. Storm surge warnings are in effect for much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, with water rising potentially by as much as 15 feet (4.6 meters) in the Tampa Bay area.

However, by the time Milton crosses the peninsula and reaches the Space Coast, the storm is expected to have weakened significantly to a Category 1 hurricane, the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron reported on Monday. A Category 1 hurricane has sustained winds between 74 and 95 mph (119 and 153 km/h).

Although KSC lies in roughly the center of the cone of possible paths, it is not under a mandatory evacuation order. Still, “we do expect downed trees, power outages, possible cell service outages, and localized flooding,” said the 45th Weather Squadron, which is responsible for KSC’s launch forecasts.

All of KSC’s original major facilities—including the massive Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and the launch pads—were designed to withstand winds of at least 104 mph (167 km/h). And every facility at KSC built after 1992’s Hurricane Andrew was built to a higher standard of 130 to 135 mph (209 to 217 km/h).

But that doesn’t mean the center is immune to wind damage. In 2004, Hurricane Frances ripped over 800 exterior panels off the south side of the Vehicle Assembly Building, leaving gaping holes requiring years of repairs—even though ground-level winds at KSC never reached hurricane strength.

How NASA Battens Down the Hatches

NASA has a well-defined hurricane preparation plan at KSC that it is currently carrying out.

On Monday night, KSC was at HURCON 3, or Hurricane Condition III, a status activated when surface winds of over 58 mph (93 km/h) could arrive within 48 hours. At HURCON 3, KSC’s protocol calls for securing facilities, property, and equipment.

HURCON 3 is also when NASA briefs and deploys the ride-out team (ROT)—a core team of around 100 to 120 essential personnel that will ride out the storm at KSC while all other workers are offsite. As the storm nears, KSC will go to HURCON 2 and eventually HURCON 1, with the ROT hunkered down and the facility closed.

During the storm, the ROT’s job is to keep essential infrastructure running. After the storm passes, the ROT will perform an initial damage assessment from a vehicle and do what it can before handing off to another team for a fuller assessment and to start recovery efforts.

When the facility is deemed safe, the rest of the center’s staff can return to work, including launch teams, who will assess launch pads and processing facilities for storm damage. Only then will NASA be able to set a new timeline for Europa Clipper’s launch.

“Once we have the ‘all-clear’ followed by facility assessment and any recovery actions, we will determine the next launch opportunity for this NASA flagship mission,” said Dunn.

The mission has daily launch opportunities during a window that runs through November 6.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Astronomy.

The post NASA Postpones Europa Clipper Launch as Hurricane Milton Takes Aim at Cape Canaveral appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

CAL Fire, California’s emergency response air program, is currently battling the explosive Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, which has burned 76,138 acres and was only 15% contained at press time. While that fire has destroyed 189 structures and damaged 39 other buildings, figures could have been much higher if not for the work of CAL Fire’s aerial firefighting assets and the brave pilots who fly them.

In support of ground crews, the CAL Fire aerial firefighting fleet includes 21 Grumman S-2T airtankers, 10 UH-1H Super Huey helicopters, a King Air A200CT Air Attack aircraft and 14 OV-10A “observation” aircraft that operate from 13 statewide air attack and nine helitack bases. However, contract operators were brought in on the Kincade Fire, bringing the total number of air assets to 27 helicopters. In addition, the Global SuperTanker Boeing 747-400, carrying 17,500 gallons of fire retardant per flight, was dispatched from Colorado to help on the Kincade Fire.

A National Weather Service (NWS) “Red Flag Warning” for dangerous fire weather conditions in the area since last Saturday meant winds were gusting 45 to as high as 80 MPH. Like the annual Santa Ana winds of Southern California, Northern California’s “Diablo winds” flow offshore and are fueled by high-pressure air over Nevada and Utah seeking a path through the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges to fill lower-pressure voids on the Pacific coast. “Strong winds have affected aerial operations, and at times aircraft have not been able to fly on the Kincade Fire due to unsafe conditions,” said Scott McLean, CAL Fire Information Officer.

Despite the explosive nature of the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, the 2019 California wildfire season has been far quieter than the two previous seasons, CAL Fire data shows. Year-to-date in 2019, CAL Fire has been called to work 5,061 fires that have consumed 74,385 acres. That is in comparison to 2017, when CAL Fire worked 7,117 fires that burned 505,956 acres, and 2018, when the agency fought 6,284 fires that burned 876,147 acres.

CAL Fire reports that an unprecedented buildup of dry vegetation and extreme winds fueled by drought has increased the size and intensity of California wildfires. “While wildfires are a natural part of California’s landscape, the fire season in California and across the West is starting earlier and ending later each year. Warmer spring and summer temperatures, reduced snowpack, and earlier spring snowmelt create longer and more intense dry seasons that increase moisture stress on vegetation and make forests more susceptible to severe wildfire,” the agency said.

In Southern California, Los Angeles County was battling the Getty Fire, in a heavily-populated and affluent section of the city that is adjacent to the famed J. Paul Getty Museum. The incident is not being managed by CAL Fire, but L.A. County Fire reported 11 helicopters were working the fire on Tuesday.

As with all flying, weather is always a factor. This week, pilots in SoCal were up against a strong Santa Ana wind event expected to last through Thursday. “This wind event could be one of the strongest of recent memory,” said the NWS “Extreme Red Flag” warning for Southern California issued Tuesday. “Damaging wind gusts between 50 and 70 mph are expected over most of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, with isolated gusts to around 80 mph likely.”

The post Gusty Winds Challenging Aerial Firefighters in California appeared first on FLYING Magazine.