Dear Tom,
Without satellite imagery, recent Hurricane Epsilon might not have been noticed. Weren’t hurricanes missed before technology allowed us to view the entire ocean?
John C.
Dear John,
Your thoughts mirror those of our weather team. Detailed tropical cyclone records in the Atlantic date back to 1851 and are generally taken at face value because they are the only records that meteorologists have to work with. However, it is almost a certainty that some tropical storms and hurricanes went unnoticed in the years prior to aircraft and satellite surveillance. In those days, forecasters had no choice but to rely solely on ship reports or weather transmissions from islands about approaching storms. Prior to this season’s record 26 named storms, the most storms in a single season was 21 (1933). It’s possible that even more storms formed that year but went undetected.
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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.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
