Quick Fact:What is the highest winds ever recorded by recon?

[drezee]

The peak intensity of Lenny, 135 knots, is based on 90% of the 149 knot flight-level (700 mb) wind speed reported at 1702 UTC 17 November. The GPS dropsonde from this fix operationally measured 180 knots at 891 mb. Post-flight processing corrected this value to 183 knots, a record dropsonde wind speed in a hurricane. Figure 6 shows the eyewall dropsonde wind profile at 1940 UTC 17 November; the 10-meter wind was 125 kt. The lowest pressure recorded by the aircraft was 934 mb at 1929 UTC 17 November. However, the minimum central pressure of 933 mb was assigned based on the lower 700 mb height on the 1702 UTC fix. The 929 mb pressure from the 2134 UTC fix was an extrapolated value and has been discounted.

[Air Force Met]

The highest flight level wind I can recall (there may have been stronger) was Gilbert in '88. Flight level wind of 199 kts. I was doing undergrad at Texas A&M at the time....and we ALL freaked.

[drezee]

Yeah, dropsonde is different from flight level...

[Stormsfury]

Also in Gilbert, it was noted (on a special I watched on PBS about Hurricane Hunters) that RECON found an 882 mb millibar pressure ... which was later adjusted to the 888mb reading which stands as the record for the Western Hemisphere.

SF

[drezee]

I have searched high and low to find that ob of 199kts. Do you have a link?

[drezee]

WTNT43 KNHC 030302
TCDAT3
HURRICANE LILI DISCUSSION NUMBER 47
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
11 PM EDT WED OCT 02 2002

IT APPEARS THAT LILI HAS PEAKED BASED ON THE PLETHORA OF DROPSONDE
AND FLIGHT-LEVEL WIND DATA COLLECTED BY BOTH AIR FORCE RESERVE AND
NOAA RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT THIS EVENING. THE STRONGEST WINDS
OBSERVED WERE 196 KT AT 848 MB AND 183 KT AT 933 MB FROM
DROPSONDES...AND 141 KT OBSERVED AT THE 700 MB FLIGHT-LEVEL. ALL OF
THIS EQUATES TO APPROXIMATELY 125 KT AT THE SURFACE...WHICH IS
SUPPORTED BY STEP-FREQUENCY MICROWAVE DATA OF 125 KT OBTAINED FROM A
NOAA RESEARCH PLANE. THE PRESSURE HAS ALSO RISEN FROM 938 MB TO 942
MB DURING THE PAST 5 HOURS...FURTHER INDICATING THAT LILI HAS LIKELY
PEAKED. HAVING SAID THAT...LILI IS STILL A VERY FORMIDABLE CATEGORY
4 HURRICANE. THE UPPER-LEVEL OUTFLOW HAS BECOME ELONGATED
NORTHWEST-SOUTHEAST...BUT THERE ARE NO SIGNS OF ANY SIGNIFICANT
SHEAR OR DRY AIR ENTRAINMENT. ALSO...THE WIND RADII WERE INCREASED
SLIGHTLY BASED ON SURFACE ANALYSES PROVIDED BY THE AOML/HURRICANE
RESEARCH DIVISION.

[Air Force Met]

Nope. I just remember it because we were in a TAMSCAMS (Texas A&M Student Chapter of the American Meteorology Society) meeting and we kept sneaking out to get the latest recon info. I remember thinking "229 MPH....whooaa" If I recall correctly, it was also the ob in which they reported a ~50kt updraft and ~40 kt downdraft in the south and north eyewalls.

[drezee]

[/list]

[jabber]

Now thats a storm.....

[JetMaxx]

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[drezee]

OBSERVED WERE 196 KT AT 848 MB AND 183 KT AT 933 MB FROM
That was from Lili 196Kts @ 848 mb I Could only imagine if we found the fastest spot winds in a stronger hurricane...