They did that last night. But it was a C-130.

Really? Got linkage?

I couldn't find diaper gel on their website. What the hell is it?

FWIW, the article denigrates the idea of just blowing up a nuke in the middle of a 'cane, noting that the energy of a hurricane far exceeds that of even a bunch of nukes.

Yeah, but it would still be fun to see what happens if you do, right? I say nuke 'em.

I was just kiddin lauraw.

But it wasn't until 1961 that initial tests were conducted on Hurricane Esther with a Navy plane releasing silver iodide crystals. Some reports indicate winds were reduced by 10 percent to 30 percent.

That's a myth. They did the experiments but didn't understand the results.

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5a.html

Intense hurricanes form their own concentric outer eyewalls thereby reducing their intensity. Unfortunately, often this is sometimes temporary as the inner eyewall collapses and the outer contracts and the storm reintensifies. The process is called an eyewall replacement cycle. Both Katrina and Rita underwent such cycles when they were extremely strong and never managed to reintensify (thankfully) to their previous strong levels. This is a normal process for strong Cat 4 and 5 hurricanes. Three of the most destructive modern hurricanes, Andrew, Camille, and Charley, all underwent rapid intensification immediately before striking land. The process of rapid intensification is not well understood.

noting that the energy of a hurricane far exceeds that of even a bunch of nukes.

It wouldn't be about vaporizing the hurricane per se, rather about disrupting structure. You can't blow a hurricane apart like Nagasaki (conservation of momentum and all that physics stuff) - the bombs would after all be adding net energy to the system.

Might be able to disrupt structure enough that it would take longer to reform a core and strengthen.

A full eyewall replacement cycle takes what? 12-24 hours maybe? Several "monster city buster" H-bombs around one quadrant of the eye perimeter, nice "clean" air bursts at 5,000-7,000' might just be enough to slash a cat4/5 down to a disorganized 1/2.

It would take quite a while to reform the eyewall if you could turn 25% of it into disorganized mush.

2 for nuke 'em.

re: nukes

We'll never know if we don't try....

3 for nukes.
(This is probably how Godzilla was born, ya know.)

I really hate wasting perfectly good thermonuclear weapons that have been bought and paid for...

...we bought the ticket, I want the ride.

What about having Michael Moore and O-Dub stand in the path of the storm with their backs turned? Sure, a bunch nukes pale in comparison to a hurricane, but I think their combined butt-wind just might do the trick . . .

C'mon, there's one thing that's sure to work: lasers!

I mean, is there anything thy can't do? Am I the only one with his thinking cap on? Hellllloooo?

Just tell Rosie O'Donnell that hurricanes are made out of high-speed marshmallow fluff, she'll do the rest.

Okay.
4 for nukes
1 for methane
1 for laser
1 for marshmallow fluff bait and switch

Another vote for nukes here. I mean c'mon, we do have a lot of nukes. And besides, nuking a hurricane would just be utterly fucking cool. How many people have ever done that in the history of the world? Zero. That's right, zero! But we're Americans, goddamnit, and we ought to be the first to nuke a motherfucking hurricane.

"Gotta nuke somethin'."

I still don't believe that detonating a large weapon or group of weapons, nuclear or not , will have NO affect on a hurricane. What does the energy within the hurricane have to do with a bomb? Most of the energy within a hurricane is kinetic energy, I would think, from water moving around. What if you evaporated the water? What if the concussion from the blast disrupted the wind flow? Has anyone tried to detonate a weapon inside a hurricane? I think we should employ the scientific method here. What else do we have the government for, if we can't get them to explode nukes inside hurricanes? Isn't this why we pay taxes?

Most of the energy in a hurricane is heat energy.

What else do we have the government for, if we can't get them to explode nukes inside hurricanes? Isn't this why we pay taxes?

PREACHIN' TO THE CHOIR, CHIP.

When I wrote my check to the IRS this April I noted that it was "To be used only for nuclear weapons technology and deployment." They cashed it anyway, the bastards.

Its a good street cred builder.

"Osama, they are crazy, they nuked a fucking hurricane...we'd better stop pissing them off."

From the NWS about nuking a hurricane:

Now for a more rigorous scientific explanation of why this would not be an effective hurricane modification technique. The main difficulty with using explosives to modify hurricanes is the amount of energy required. A fully developed hurricane can release heat energy at a rate of 5 to 20x1013 watts and converts less than 10% of the heat into the mechanical energy of the wind. The heat release is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes. According to the 1993 World Almanac, the entire human race used energy at a rate of 1013 watts in 1990, a rate less than 20% of the power of a hurricane.

and

In addition, an explosive, even a nuclear explosive, produces a shock wave, or pulse of high pressure, that propagates away from the site of the explosion somewhat faster than the speed of sound. Such an event doesn't raise the barometric pressure after the shock has passed because barometric pressure in the atmosphere reflects the weight of the air above the ground. For normal atmospheric pressure, there are about ten metric tons (1000 kilograms per ton) of air bearing down on each square meter of surface. In the strongest hurricanes there are nine. To change a Category 5 hurricane into a Category 2 hurricane you would have to add about a half ton of air for each square meter inside the eye, or a total of a bit more than half a billion (500,000,000) tons for a 20 km radius eye. It's difficult to envision a practical way of moving that much air around.

Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them ?

Also the deterrent effect. You nuke the shit outta just one, that let's the other hurricanes know you mean business, that you're ready to pull the trigger.

Look, I'm no scientist. All I know is that we let Katrina get away with her nonsense. We looked awfully weak in front of all the other hurricanes. Next thing I knew we were running from Rita. Coincidence?

I think Rita got wind of the nuclear option you'll pardon the pun.

Piece of advice. You handle hurricanes the way you handle your first day in prison.

First day of hurricane season, you pick out the biggest, nastiest looking hurricane you see. Then, in the cafeteria, no provocation, you call it out, shouting "You fuckin looking at me, punk?" Then, before it can react, you go nuts. Unleash. Buck-fuckin-wild on that thing. Nukes. Shivs. Whatever ya got.

You might get your ass beat, but the other hurricanes, they know not to front. "Don't mess with him, he crazy"

Hurricane's don't know reason. They don't knowlogic. All they know is fear and violence. Give it to them before they give it to you.

Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them ?

When I began to read Steve L.'s link, my mind played a trick on me. I thought it was going to say:

Why don't we try to understand why these storms hate us?

Where did I ever get such a crazy idea? Must have been something I heard.

released radioactive fallout...

Pure piffle.

THERMOnuclear weapons won't produce hardly any fallout with an airburst. They have only a very small conventional fission nuke as their initiators and fuse very light elements in the bang.

I'm shocked that NOAA would be pitching such technical nonsense.

So all the wussy objections I'm reading have to do with the fact that hurricanes produce more energy than the nukes we currently have.

The nukes we currently have.

Obviously, the answer is to build even BIGGER nukes. A B41? Screw that. I'm talkin' THOUSANDS of megatons of pure thermonuclear fury. This is how we won the Cold War, people. Let's get cracking. All those hippies yap about "Mother Gaia" and shit, so obviously the Earth is just another Godless commie regime. Well, we saw off the Soviets and we'll see off your precious "Gaia" too.

USA! USA! USA!

ok then its heat energy. How about a nonexplosive solution? How about scooping up some water from down near Antarctica, or up near the Arctic, whichever is closest, and pour that on the hurricane? I know, it's alot of water, but it sure as hell beats rebuilding entire cities and surrounding communities, doesn't it. AND, it would help to prevent gas price spikes, b/c there would be no hurricanes screwin' up the refineries. So even though you use a lot of airplane fuel flying back and forth, airplane fuel is a whole lot cheaper than NEW ORLEANS. Put our tax dollars to work, BushCo. Stop hurricanes now! Think about what kind of legacy THAT would be for your presidency. Cold War, good job. Stopping hurricanes, GREAT job. Get after it!

Pour water on it? Gez, why don't we just negotiate with it, or maybe put on some of those pretty blue UN helmets and boycott the thing.

Nuke it. We nuke the hurricane's, nuke any uppity tropical depressions. Hell, let's nuke any warm winds off the coast of Africa - kill em in the crib.

As Godzilla was aroused from hibernation by an A-bomb, all this talk of nukes & 'canes has aroused --Megalon! Rise up and destroy our enemies! Rise up and destroy Mother Gaia and all those yapping hippies! Come on, Megalon!”

I don't really have a dog in this fight -- in fact, I don't particularly care for the expression "dog in this fight" -- but I feel compelled to remind everyone that Gamera is a friend to children.

Nuke the 'Canes? Geez, you Gators fans are so...

Oh. Never mind.

If we pour water on it, it's only as a prelude to unleashing some freezing ray. Zap, frozen hurricane. And then? Then we nuke it. Cause it'll explode into a bunch of shards like that cop in Terminator2. And that would be cool.

And don't gimme that mamby-pamby 'That'll just vaporize it" bullshit. Shards I tell you! SHARDS!

If we use all our nukes on the hurricanes, then what are we going to use on the volcanos and earthquakes? Fairy dust?

Johnd01: At every point in recorded history, there always been a line of small minded men, petty acoountants ready to chirp: 'What about radiation, couterstrikes, shortages.." Always some reason not to nuke Russia, the Library, those punk kid who keep cutting aross my lawn. The list goes on and on.

The visionary, the man who's seen further has always been the man to nuke first, ask questions later. And if shortages arise, we nuke the cause of those shortages. It's just that simple. Got it?

Man, Reo is picking up some major points with me tonight. Of course, he needed them after that gay-ass Godzilla nerd post, but still.

Amen? Yeah, that's the word. I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a freezing ray, I was just trying to play the hand we've been dealt. If there's a freezing ray, and I am NOT ready to deny that there is such a thing, we can definitely include that in the plan. We will need an exit strategy, to ensure that if this plan fails to eradicate hurricanes, we can appease future hurricanes. I suggest that we put Mexico on the table, let the hurricanes HAVE Mexico, if necessary. That way we can just defend our southern border and keep hurricanes out of the United States. Because there's nothing coming over that border. Not now, not ever.

Pfaugh. Freezing rays.

HELLO!! Icebergs?? HELLOOO??

Just float a few of those badass icebergs from up North, in the Gulf of Mexico. No more hot-water-causing-hurricane-growing-issues.

Sheesh.

Its like I have to babysit you wankers.

How about a nonexplosive solution?

***BORING***

You're probably one of those guys who were satisfied with SuperSoakers when the rest of us were making flame throwers and setting the neighborhood on fire.

Icebergs? Well there's a surprise from Laura. A global problem where Hugh Jackman isn't the solution. The scientific community will be shocked.

Hey, don't attack me, I'm just brainstorming. Or was I having a 'thought shower'? I am a big proponent of the nuclear option. I am just trying to include everyone in the solution, and that means we have to include kook liberals. And kook liberals hate nukes. Not to mention America.

How exactly are we gonna transport icebergs in the heat of summer? I think the freezing ray (if such a thing exists) is the best option I've heard yet. Because it involves my solution as a prerequisite, and that means I am smart enough to be part of the solution. Stop trying to ruin my thought shower.

Hold it chip. My freezing ray was only part of the plan. Without the nukes coming in after and shardify it... well, the thing starts to sound retarded.

*burying the script in which Hugh Jackman attaches propellers to icebergs and steers them around North America for delivery to the Gulf*

I didn't realize shardification was such a vital part of the plan. I did realize, just now, how close that shard is to shart, which is the ultimate un-plan. Take that, Suncom...

Not just any icebergs, but icebergs sharpened into floating caltrops. They might not kill a hurricane, but they'll sure slow it down.

Of course if we were to do something nasty like shutdown the gulf stream most of these things would never get very strong to begin with.

THAT would kill two birds with one stone. Hurricanes get neutered, AND europe gets some super nasty winter weather.

Holly insanity batman another weird nutcase i mmean it reminds me of a few years ago when some persons gathered on certan places on earth to send out their vibes to bring about worldwide and universal peace all becuase of the planets were all lined up just what kind of wacky weed have these persons been nipping on?