posted on Sep, 5 2005 @ 03:55 AM
I doubt it'll have much effect at all. The heat and energy of the nuclear explosion might actualy feed some extra energy into the huricane but it
would be negligable to the energy already in the thing.
To have any effect on a hurricane, I think we'd need to use a device that can create a blast that can span the entire diameter of the hurricane
disrupting and puncturing the huricanes walls.
Katrina at its peak had an eye of 30 NM, started at 9 NM, so I wonder what kinda of monster bomb would be needed to blast trough the walls of the
huricane and disrupt it. The eye of the huricane is a quet zone and if I'm not mistaken it picks up energy from below. Usualy heat from the ocean.
Here's a data chart on what nukes can do:
crtr=crater
dev=devistation
des=destruction
dam=damage
15 MT nuke; crtr 4,000ft, dev 3-1/2 miles, des 7 miles, dam 14 miles
20 MT nuke; crtr 4,500ft, dev 3-3/4 miles, des 7-1/2 miles, dam 15 miles
25 MT nuke; crtr 5,000ft, dev 4-1/4 miles, des 8-1/2 miles, dam 17 miles
30 MT nuke; crtr 5,500ft, dev 4-3/4 miles, des 9-1/2 miles, dam 19 miles
40 MT nuke; crtr 6,250ft, dev 5-1/4 miles, des 10-1/2 miles, dam 21 miles
50 MT nuke; crtr 7,000ft, dev 6 miles, des 12 miles, dam 24 miles
75 MT nuke; crtr 8,000ft, dev 6-3/4 miles, des 13-1/2 miles, dam 27 miles
100 MT nuke; crtr 9,000ft, dev 7-1/2 miles, des 15 miles, dam 30 miles
125 MT nuke; crtr 10,000ft, dev 8-1/2 miles, des 17 miles, dam 34 miles
150 MT nuke; crtr 11,250ft, dev 9-1/2 miles, des 19 miles, dam 38 miles
175 MT nuke; crtr 12,500ft, dev 10-1/2 miles, des 21 miles, dam 42 miles
200 MT nuke; crtr 13,750ft, dev 11-1/2 miles, des 23 miles, dam 46 mile
250 MT nuke; crtr 16,000ft, dev 12-1/2 miles, des 25 miles, dam 50 miles
300 MT nuke; crtr 18,000ft, dev 15 miles, des 30 miles, dam 60 miles
350 MT nuke; crtr 21,000ft, dev 17-1/2 miles, des 35 miles, dam 70 miles
400 MT nuke; crtr 24,000ft, dev 20 miles, des 40 miles, dam 80 miles
500 MT nuke; crtr 30,000ft (5 miles), dev 25 miles, des 50 miles, dam 100 miles
600 MT nuke; crtr 36,000ft (6 miles), dev 30 miles, des 60 miles, dam 120 miles
750 MT nuke; crtr 42,000ft (6-1/2 miles), dev 35 miles, des 70 miles, dam 140 miles
900 MT nuke; crtr 48,000ft (8 miles), dev 40 miles, des 80 miles, dam 160 miles
1.2 GT nuke; crtr 10 miles, dev 50 miles, des 100 miles, dam 200 miles
2 GT nuke; crtr 15 miles, dev 75 miles, des 150 miles, dam 300 miles
5 GT nuke; crtr 25 miles, dev 125 miles, des 250 miles, dam 500 miles
10 GT nuke; crtr 40 miles, dev 200 miles, des 400 miles, dam 800 miles
I'm thinking the blast power needed to actualy disrupt the walls of the huricane would probably be between the destruction and damage diameters, so
for Katrina, to even reach the huricane walls with enough force, you would need a frigin huge bomb.
The Tsar Bomb, biggest nuke ever tested, was 50MT during testing, capable of 100MT.
[edit on 5/9/05 by thematrix]