Dear Tom,
How did meteorologists track hurricanes before satellites?
— Mike Schaeffer
Dear Mike,
Today, meteorologists have the luxury of continuous global satellite coverage that makes it impossible for a tropical cyclone to escape detection. Before the advent of aircraft and satellite surveillance, forecasters had to rely on a smattering of ship reports and weather transmissions from the islands to learn about approaching storms. In the era before radio communication, when an island was devastated by a hurricane, there was no way to spread the warning to areas in the storm’s path.
Detailed Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone records date back to 1851, but it is almost a certainty that these records are incomplete with some storms that never made landfall going undetected. In many instances, hurricanes struck with little advance warning.
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Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or: asktomwhy@wgntv.com
Weather Report is prepared by the WGN-TV Weather Center, where Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at noon, 5:55 p.m. and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
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