Hurricane simulator seeks to improve forecasts, save lives
- NOAA forecasts an above-average Atlantic hurricane season for 2024
- University of Miami machine simulates conditions of a Category 5 storm
- It uses a wind tunnel and wave basin to mimic ocean, atmospheric conditions
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KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.(NewsNation) — The Atlantic hurricane season starts Saturday, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts an above-average season for 2024.
NewsNation’s Xavier Walton went inside the world’s largest hurricane simulator, part of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami, which can mimic the conditions of a Category 5 hurricane.
How is Mother Nature’s fury recreated?
The 75-foot-long, 20-foot-wide and 6.5-foot-deep tank, inside the SUSTAIN Laboratory, is used to study complex air-sea interactions of wind, wave and shorelines.
One of the key components to recreating Mother Nature’s fury is the SUSTAIN tank’s fan, whose 1,460-horsepower engine unleashes wind speeds of up to 157 miles per hour. The more the wind speed picks up, the louder the turbines become.
In two minutes, NewsNation’s GoPro camera captured what scientists said was a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds around 100 miles per hour. After just four minutes the testing simulated a Category 5.
Dr. Brian Haus, department chair at the Rosenstiel School, explained that the one-of-a-kind simulation is important due to increasing temperatures in the ocean causing ecological damage and the increased threat of hurricanes this year.
Hurricane expectations for 2024
NOAA forecasts there will be 17 to 25 total named storms with recorded winds of 39 mph or higher. Of these storms, eight to 13 are anticipated to become hurricanes. Four to seven could be considered Category 3 or higher, with winds of at least 111 mph.
Projections for the collective strength and duration of the Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes this season range from 150% to 245% above normal. NOAA uses the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) index to measure this. The ACE projections for 2024 are the second highest to start a season.
What you didn’t see inside that test tank was all the different little sensors. Those sensors are collecting useful data for the researchers and as a result, will help more accurately predict where a hurricane is going or even how strong it’s going to be.
NewsNation digital producer Cassie Buchman contributed to this report.
