May 15, 2007

Researchers Call for New Hurricane Prediction System

Katrina2

It's about time they update the rather pathetic hurricane prediction system. We'd like to say it always appears to be a crap shoot on what hurricane will turn into what level of trouble.

Timothy Reinhold, engineer of the Institute for Business & Home Safety, and Mark Powell, a meteorologist with the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, want to institute a new system to predict hurricanes’ damage potential. The Saffir-Simpson Scale is the current one which gives a 1 to 5 rating based on wind speed, strength, and surge. The two say that this system can’t handle just how destructive a storm can be by predicting its size and reach.

Reinhold, the former deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, feels that their classification system could have warned Gulf residents of the magnitude of the hurricane before Katrina hit, thereby allowing them better staying/relocation choices.

“We have known for some time that the level of surge and surge-related damage is not well correlated with the maximum wind speeds at landfall.”

Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30, although the Sub-tropical Storm Andrea occurred May 9. The two are expected to test out their idea this year.

Via Gear Live At Live Science