WSJ As the end of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season approaches on Nov. 30, the tally of destruction left by storms this year has been enormous. In August, Hurricane Dorian lingered over much of the Bahamas for three devastating days, leaving the country with over 65 people dead. In September, Tropical Storm Imelda dropped 40 inches of rain on coastal Texas. Repairing the damage caused by both storms will cost many billions of dollars.
Given the destruction and loss of life caused by such storms, the idea of diverting them is tempting. This summer, President Trump reportedly asked senior officials to explore using nuclear weapons to divert hurricanes from the U.S. This notion is so popular that the website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) includes a helpful explainer on the many reasons it is not a good idea (think radioactive fallout).
Trying to direct the course of a massive hurricane may sound foolhardy, but the idea was once pursued with serious intent. In the wake of World War II, many believed that control of the weather was imminently possible and would be a boon, making it possible to divert damaging storms and deliver rainfall to drought-stricken communities.
Cloud seeding, the basic tool for modifying clouds and therefore hurricanes, was first developed in 1946 by researchers at General Electric, who noticed that dry ice caused the clouds created by their own breath to produce snow inside the companyâs new domestic freezers. The dry ice acted as an artificial nucleus, encouraging super-cooled water to form crystals of snow and in the process release latent heat.
That techniqueâmodified to use tinier and more effective crystals of silver iodideâwas soon put to use in real clouds to see if rain could be produced. Results were mixed, but projects in small-scale weather control nevertheless continued, with enthusiasm high in arid Western states.
Almost immediately interest ran from individual clouds to entire hurricanes. By October 1947, scientists working on the government-funded Project Cirrus made the first attempt to modify a hurricane. The results were both alarming and inconclusive. After seeding, the hurricane, east of Jacksonville, Fla., abruptly altered its course, reversing track and heading west before making landfall on the coast of Georgia and South Carolina and causing a public outcry. It was impossible to know for sure whether the seeding had caused the change in direction, but the episode nevertheless cast a pall over the prospects of weather control.
Despite the risks, the allure of controlling one of the most destructive natural forces on earth remained strong. Following a series of devastating hurricanes in 1954 and 1955, Congress allocated funding for a National Hurricane Research Project tasked with both basic research and investigating storm modification. Promising results from a test made on Hurricane Esther in 1961 paved the way for a joint effort of the Navy and the U.S. Weather Bureau called Project Stormfury.
John, Please refute this WSJ BS. (IF you have I have missed it and apologies.) CLEARLY….this is ongoing. Deb