What Happens If a Nuclear Missile is Detonated in a Hurricane's Eye?

[vincentm]

Me and my friends are having a discussion on Hurricanes and the question came up if one was to detonate nuclear missile into the eye of a hurricane. what would happen ,some said the hurricane would get larger and more powerful. Is there some sort of answer to this? Maybe also a mathematical explanation as to what will happen chemically?

 

[Pengwuino]

The math would probably be something a supercomputer would crank out, not something postable on a forum. Of course, when the theoretical part is too hard, i always say blow crap up :D

 

[Astronuc]

The question is "what effect would the shock wave of a nuclear detonation have on the hurricane"? i.e. would it disrupt the hurricane?

I don't know if anyone has modeled it, so it is hard so say what it would do.

Hurricanes are large - area and volumewise.

Presumably to have an effect, a sizeable nuclear weapon would need to be used - probably in the megaton range. Possibly the blast would cause a condensation effect, which would disperse some energy - presumably into the ocean.

The problem is that the energy is still there, and then the question becomes - would the hurrican reform?

A major problem with the idea is the radioactive fallout - which has to go somewhere - like into the ocean or atmosphere. This is a principal reason why atmospheric detonations are banned and all testing has been done underground.

Chemically, not a lot would happen - some of the atmosphere is ionized and recombines. The hurricane is mostly water vapor/droplets dispersed in air (78% N2, 21% O2, + CO2 and trace gases).

 

[saltydog]

Me and my friends are having a discussion on Hurricanes and the question came up if one was to detonate nuclear missile into the eye of a hurricane. what would happen ,some said the hurricane would get larger and more powerful. Is there some sort of answer to this? Maybe also a mathematical explanation as to what will happen chemically?

This has been brought up before. The conclusion was:

$$\text{hurricane}+\text{nuclear bomb}=\text{radioactive hurricane}$$

 

[Pengwuino]

This has been brought up before. The conclusion was:

$$\text{hurricane}+\text{nuclear bomb}=\text{radioactive hurricane}$$

I think there's a coefficient missing there

 

[Nerro]

The water in the hurricane might condense very rapidly on the shockwave which in turn might cause serious downpours when the blast disspates.