Dear Tom,
If hurricanes are fueled by warm moist air, why can’t they be slowed or “killed” by dumping massive amounts of ice or cold water into the “eye”?
Larry Landry
Dear Larry,
Dr. Chris Landsea of the National Hurricane Center’s Research Division has written extensively on the subject of hurricane modification, and he states categorically that hurricane modification by any means is an exercise in futility and impracticality.
“Consider the scale of what we are talking about,” he says. “The critical region in the hurricane for energy transfer would be under or near the eye wall”–about 2,000 square miles. Allowing for storm movement and uncertainty in its track, the “cool patch” expands to 31,000 square miles. That’s 55 percent of the area of Illinois, and it’s simply impossible to chill such a huge area.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
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