A US GROUP’S ‘hurricane hunter’ plane has been based in Shannon Airport in recent days to study the strong winds caused by severe weather events such as Storm Éowyn.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is measuring ocean-surface winds in winter storms over the North Atlantic.

Part of their work sees them flying into the eye of storms in the likes of the US to gather data that can’t be achieved through satellite imagery alone.

Their project in Ireland, known as ‘Ocean Winds’, helps scientists and engineers improve the quality and consistency of satellite-based weather data used in forecasting and modeling.

This is the fourth year the NOAA has conducted this project from Ireland.

“Ireland gives us a nice vantage point to reach some of the strongest winter storms over the North Atlantic,” said Dr Paul Chang, one of NOAA’s lead scientists for the project, in a statement about the mission.

“The advantage of Ireland is that the storms are generally coming toward us versus us having to chase them, and the warmer airport conditions are easier for the P-3 support.”

Kermit and the crew are sending a postcard from Ireland!@NOAA’s “Kermit,” a WP-3D Orion (#NOAA42), flying missions in the North Atlantic for the Ocean Winds Experiment Program for @NOAASatellites. These flights obtain measurements of the ocean surface in a variety of… pic.twitter.com/sNSfFN8ZIp

— NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (@NOAA_HurrHunter) January 24, 2025

The aircraft is based at the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida.

The group has also used Halifax in Nova Scotia and St. John’s in Newfoundland for its work in the past.

With reporting by Niall O’Connor