is it possible, theoretically, for a nuclear explosion to blow out a hurricane?

Answer 1

Yep
if the force of the nuclear bomb can force air at amazing speeds.
then detonating it would push it outwords, or just destroy the air particles :)
Pretty much, it would
it would be like, putting a grenade inside a box that is moving around on a wheel
Take the pin out and it will explode, the wheel (the tornado) will be destroyed
So , yea :d

Answer 2

Responses without sources aren't answers, they're just opinions.

From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

Subject: C5c) Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them ?
Contributed by Chris Landsea

During each hurricane season, there always appear suggestions that one should simply use nuclear weapons to try and destroy the storms. Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems. Needless to say, this is not a good idea.

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.

If we think about mechanical energy, the energy at humanity's disposal is closer to the storm's, but the task of focusing even half of the energy on a spot in the middle of a remote ocean would still be formidable. Brute force interference with hurricanes doesn't seem promising.

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.

Attacking weak tropical waves or depressions before they have a chance to grow into hurricanes isn't promising either. About 80 of these disturbances form every year in the Atlantic basin, but only about 5 become hurricanes in a typical year. There is no way to tell in advance which ones will develop. If the energy released in a tropical disturbance were only 10% of that released in a hurricane, it's still a lot of power, so that the hurricane police would need to dim the whole world's lights many times a year.

Answer 3

In theory it could do it but in reality it would rain down a plethora of other Derbies such as radioactive waste and other things. However it could also stop the rotation of a hurricane, and postpone the devastation of a category 5 storm. In all honesty though there isn't enough data to f8ind a plausible theory in this matter.

Answer 4

In principle yes. But the largest nuclear blast ever was just 65 megatonnes. This is chickenshit compared with even a small hurricane.

Answer 5

i think its not possible to use nuclear explosion b'coz nuclear explosion will create tons of radioactive radiation.although it could help u from escaping the hurricane,now it would make toxic rain.which is better?hurricane or toxic rain,u decide.

Answer 6

James E's information also appears on the Science Museum of Minnesota's "Science Buzz" site, along with a lot of other hurricane resources.

Try:
http://tinyurl.com/qvt62
http://tinyurl.com/qvwx5
http://tinyurl.com/qs7r6
http://tinyurl.com/rpzae
http://tinyurl.com/pdtvs

The cool thing about Science Buzz is that you can post questions and opinions, like on Yahoo! Answers, and get feedback from scientists and teachers, plus other museum and web visitors.

Answer 7

yes, if strong enough. the explosion would disrupt the flow of the winds and pressure thus tearing the storm apart. its the same reason that hurricanes always weaken after crossing land. the internal flow has been disrupted.

Answer 8

A hurricane is a heat machine. A blast just might strengthen it.