NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to make landfall this weekend, dumping heavy amounts of rain across the gulf coast and Florida.
But, where exactly it will make landfall is still being determined and the National Weather Service in North Little Rock is helping to pinpoint his path.
"The reason for the extra flights is to put more data into the models," says John Lewis, NWS senior forecaster.
They work around the clock at the NWS and now, with Tropical Storm Isaac on his way, a few extra duties have been added.
"We launch balloons twice-a-day, I mean that's pretty typical but we've been asked to launch four times-a-day in support of Isaac," says Lewis.
He says in order to track Isaac's path, the Hurricane Center needs more data from the hydrogen balloons.
"We attach a little device to the balloons so when [they] go up, they actually measure things like temperature and humidity and wind, and then it sends it back to a computer at the office," says Lewis.
There are about 90 NWS stations across the country that launch these hydrogen balloons. They've all been asked to launch their balloons four times-a-day until further notice.
If you find one of them, you can mail it back to the NWS free-of-charge and it can be used again.