The Texas Tech University Hurricane Research Team traveled to the Texas coast to deploy during Hurricane Beryl.

The Texas Tech University Hurricane Research Team (TTUHRT) deployed on its first storm, Hurricane Beryl, amidst what may be a busy 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.  
 
The group of nine team members departed Lubbock early on July 5th to make the 500-mile road trip to their “home base” in Victoria, TX. The decision to deploy was not easy. The then major hurricane had continued to defy global models as it wreaked havoc in Jamacia. Beryl continued to surprise the weather community as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula significantly to the north and stronger than its forecasted track. Team members continued to hypothesize the reasoning for this but had to act quickly and assume a landfall in Texas. 
 
Research Professor Brian Hirth theorized that it was due to how the models perceived the current state of the storm. 

“The models were consistently initializing Beryl too weak, resulting in a shallower system that was not feeling the steering influences that actually existed through the depth of the atmosphere.  Steering flow was more easterly down low but turned to more southerly up high, which acted to keep the deeper circulation of Beryl on a more northerly trajectory than the models were forecasting.” 

Any slight shift in the track would result in major implications. As Beryl crossed the Yucatan Peninsula, the team gained confidence that the hurricane would indeed impact the United States, but there was still major uncertainty about where on the Texas coastline it would make its mark and how strong the storm would be at landfall.  

Brian Hirth leads the forecast discussion at the hotel before the team starts deploying platforms.  

To combat these uncertainties, the team divided the deployment of their StickNet platforms into two days. On the first day, 31 of the 48 platforms were deployed from north of Rockport to the south side of Galveston, TX. As the storm moved closer (and confidence grew on where Beryl would make landfall), the team deployed the remaining platforms from Port Lavaca to Lake Jackson, TX on the second day.  

Atmospheric Science students Tyler Danzig (left) and Samuel Hernandez (right) deploy a StickNet platform on the coastline prior to Beryl's landfall.  

After deployment, the team had to sit and wait to see if their hard work paid off. Beryl restrengthened to a solid Category 1 hurricane as it made landfall near Matagorda, TX, perfectly in the middle of the deployed array of StickNet stations.  
 
After Beryl's passage, the teams were met with obstacles such as snapped trees, downed power lines, and flooding as they started to retrieve the platforms.  

“At the beginning of the day, we dealt with debris that blocked the roads. You could tell that the storm surge was intense on the barrier islands. Lots of sand and personal belongings were covering the roads.” 

Natalie Trout, a research scientist for NWI recalled.  

“You could tell how resilient these coastal communities are. By the end of the day, the roads were clear and free of debris and locals were out helping neighbors within their communities.” 

The efforts of locals did not go unnoticed by the team. Due to the quick response, the team was able to pick up all 48 platforms in one day, something that they even questioned was possible.  

The group arrived back to Lubbock on July 9th with great data, new perspectives, and many memories made. Shortly after arriving home, the team was already preparing to analyze the data. The next day, NWI staff were already repairing platforms in preparation for the next storm.  

The deployment team for 2024 Hurricane Beryl.  

Texas Tech and the National Wind Institute are unique, as this is the largest and longest-standing fleet of wind measurement platforms deployed in tropical cyclones. Those who experience a deployment can see the data collection firsthand, something rare in atmospheric science. This was team member Tyler Danzig's first, and potentially final, deployment since he graduates in August with his Master's in Atmospheric Science. 

“Getting the opportunity to work with the instruments and experts in the field was really awesome! I especially enjoyed the public asking us questions and stopping as we were setting up. It's nice to see people interested in our work because it shows how important we are to them.”