Lightning within five: meet the Weather Flight

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Alex Echols
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  "There is lightning within five miles. There is lightning within five miles," the Giant Voice, Tyndall's alert and public announcement system, warns everyone of imminent, inclement weather thanks to a small unit of weather professionals.

"Weather is a key element of the wing mission. The main mission of the base, pilot training, can't be completed without weather support," said Daniel Sheldon, 325th Operation Support Squadron Weather Flight weather forecaster.

The 325th OSS Weather Flight is in charge of keeping an eye on the sky for dangerous weather that could impact the mission or harm the people on Tyndall. The main mission of the nine-person shop is to develop Tyndall specific forecasts from data they collect from various sources.

"There is weather information out there everywhere," Master Sgt. Bruce Boling, 325th OSS Weather Flight weather operations flight chief, said. "Our job is to sift through that information, determine which source is more reliable take that information and build a forecast based on it."

These forecasts directly impact on pilot training here.

The unit provides forecasts to the training squadrons and helps determine where, when and how each flight takes place in turn increasing the probability of mission success and the completion of training hours.

The Weather Flight provides information not only for Tyndall's F-22s Raptors, but for the visiting aircraft as well, with each set of information tailored to match the jet and weapons type.

"We take the general weather forecast, and we tailor it specifically to their flight giving them better decision aids to better plan their missions and complete the training that they need to," said Sergeant Boling.

Another main component of the Weather Flight is protecting the people and assets of Tyndall from devastating weather.

"We put out the watches, warnings and advisors for the base to alert the people of significant weather conditions. It is resource protection." Mr. Sheldon said.

On the flight line, there are two sets of weather sensing equipment stationed at each end of the runway. These sensors create a 20,000 foot high, five-mile wide dome, which monitors any inclement weather that breaches it.

If the weather is severe enough, the information will be sent to air field management and the command post, who then push it to the Tyndall populace e.g., the Giant Voice's "Lightning within five" warning.

An eminent tornado is the exception to this process. Since minutes make a huge difference in a tornadic situation, the Weather Flight has direct access to the Giant Voice system.

In the event of a hurricane, the Weather Flight begins to prepare as soon as the storm forms monitoring as it grows in strengths. Once the National Hurricane Center names the storm and releases an official forecast track, the Weather Flight informs the wing leadership so they can start making their decisions.

"We get very specific as far as wind speeds, wind directions, the conditions and the amount of rain that will be affecting Tyndall during the storm," said Sergeant Boling. "That is what's going to effect the commander's decision whether to evacuate people and aircrafts or to close the base."

When dealing with any storm with high wind speeds there are other outside factors to consider in closing the base.

"One of the big concerns that we do not have any oversight on is the closure of the bridges," Sergeant Boling said. "However, I can tell the commander 'Sir, you are more likely to have conditions of the bridge being closed during these times.'"

Ultimately, the decision to close the base lies with the commander, but the Weather Flight's input has a large influence on that decision, said the Sergeant.

The Air Force's weather technicians go through a year of preparation to become proficient at forecasting: nine months of initial weather skills consisting of radar training and basic meteorology and an additional three months of observing.

Senior Airman Jason Craig, 325th OSS Weather Flight weather technician, has been on station for two months and feels a certain satisfaction from his job, he said.

"It's great being able to create a forecast, getting it right and having an impact on the mission," said Airman Craig.