But up above, the full-grown hurricane is not a warm storm. Hunters perspire at low levels but not in the top of the storm. There are icy corridors through currents of air robbed of their heat by the monster below. Pillars of supercooled water push upward into the thin atmosphere. Snow flies with the shuddering winds at the top of the troposphere. It is colder up here above the tropics than it is above the poles. The fingers of the gale tremble with the cold and seem to make gestures in defiance of the sun shining through the stratosphere. Water vapor in great quantities has been carried high in the atmosphere and nature seems powerless to bring equilibrium until land or cold water at the earth’s surface below shuts off the abundant supply of energy. And when it does, the monster dies as it was born, hidden behind a veil produced by lingering cloud masses derived from the vapor that gave it life. In the last few years, men have had the courage to fly into these monsters. Some day, when other methods are used, people will look back in amazement at these brave events. Here they can see how it happened, how it was done, and feel admiration for the men who did it—the hurricane hunters. [Illustration: _IVAN RAY TANNEHILL_] was born in Ohio, where he obtained both his degrees in science at Denison University. While a boy in his early teens, he became intensely interested in birds, stars and the weather. After finishing college, he joined the Weather Bureau in Texas and a year later went through a vicious hurricane at Galveston. This experience led Dr. Tannehill to study hurricanes for the next forty years. Twenty years ago he became chief of the marine division of the U. S. Weather Bureau, then he was chief of all the Bureau’s forecasting and reporting and finally was assistant chief of the Bureau, in charge of all its technical operations. Dr. Tannehill is the author of several authoritative books on the weather, including a world-recognized classic, HURRICANES; THEIR NATURE AND HISTORY, now in its eighth edition. He has represented the United States at many world conferences on weather and served several years as president of the international commission on weather information. Citations, medals, awards and commendations have come to him for his work on weather, including the honorary degree of Doctor of Science, granted in recognition of his leadership in the study of hurricanes. His hobbies continue the same as in his boyhood—watching the birds, the stars and the weather. _THE HURRICANE HUNTERS_ By Ivan Ray Tannehill Author of “Hurricanes: Their Nature and History,” Etc. _Illustrated with Photographs_