Tracking atmospheric rivers on a highflying reconnaissance jet
Meteorologists on board a specially equipped hurricane-reconnaissance jet were trying to answer one question: How bad would the next atmospheric river be?
By releasing dozens of tube-shaped data-collecting devices into the heart of an atmospheric river, the crew was able to capture the equivalent of a CT scan to help predict when and where the rains would hit. And how hard.
Jackeline Luna is a former senior producer for video series. Before joining the Los Angeles Times, she interned for Politico, ABC7 and the Mercury News. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a master’s in journalism in May 2018.
Maggie Beidelman is a former senior video director for the Los Angeles Times. Before joining The Times in 2019, Beidelman helped launch AJ+, the digital media channel of Al Jazeera Media Network, where she produced the award-winning series “Untold America.” Beidelman has her master’s in documentary film from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.