I have been wondering about the schedule the NHC has been following with recon flights. Two nights in a row, we have had an intensifying hurricane approaching heavily populated areas, only to have a 6 hour lapse of recon data between flights at that critical time. It seems to me the NHC should be in that storm continuously as long as it is a threat. I know there are budget contraints, but this is a serious situation. Isn't it true that real-time recon data input into the models helps give a clearer picture of the storm's predicted path? Seems to me that the forecasters are truly in the dark as to the eventual landfall with Ivan. Maybe a continuous recon data feed would help....??????

--Lou