Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron members, from left, Lt. Col. Kurt Nelson, Capt. Brad Boudreaux and Maj. Shannon Hailes prepare to brief the media today at Hickam Air Force Base on the WC-130J hurricane tracker plane. The aircraft is configured with palletized weather instrumentation to penetrate storms and hurricanes to gather data for the National Hurricane Center. ANDREW SHIMABUKU | The Honolulu Advertiser

Four Air Force WC-130 hurricane tracker planes were dispatched from Mississippi and began flying six-hour missions through the storm to gather data and measurements for forecasters yesterday.

A crew of about 70 personnel, which includes 22 flight crew members and other support staff from the 403rd Wing based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., will alternate flights into the eye of the storm until it passes the state, Lt. Col. John Fox said today.