I am trying to locate where I read "Hurricane Isabel has the
equivalent force of Nuclear weapons"

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 17 Sep 2003 19:31 PDT

Is this what you are referring to?

"If you grow up on the Gulf Coast, hurricanes like Isabel haunt your
dreams. They pack the power of several hydrogen bombs and the
capricious nature of a cosmic cat toying with a mouse."

"A Force to Be Reckoned With", by Ken Ringle (September 16, 2003; Page
C01)
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15885-2003Sep15.html

If so, I would be happy to post it as the answer.

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Clarification of Question by rakr-ga on 18 Sep 2003 03:29 PDT

No, this is notwhat I am looking for.  On a news site on 09/16/03  I
read an article stating that a hurricane has the equivalent power of
all the nuclear weapons on earth.  I am trying to find the article
with that statement.  Thanks for youu help.

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 18 Sep 2003 10:47 PDT

Howdy rakr,

I haven't found your specific news article, but I have found
two sites, one of which estimates the "energy and power" that
is released from a hurricane, and another that estimates the
total power of the world's nuclear weapons, and together they
indicate that a hurricane releases more energy than all of the
nuclear weapons on Earth.  Would that work as an answer?

Thanks!  denco-ga

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Clarification of Question by rakr-ga on 28 Sep 2003 17:45 PDT

Yes,  Thats fair enough!

Howdy rakr, 
 
Appreciate you taking this as an Answer. 

Here are two references to the force of a hurricane.

Keys Historeum, as presented by the Historical Preservation
Society of the Upper KeysGeneral History of Hurricanes has an
article entitled "Anatomy of a Hurricane" By Jerry Wilkinson.
http://www.keyshistory.org/35-anatomy1.html

"It is very difficult to scale down the immence size, energy
and power released from a hurricane - some say equivalent to
400 20-megaton hydrogen bombs, or if converted to electricity,
enough to power the entire U.S. for six months."

From a USA Today web page on weather matters.
How much energy is generated daily by a major ... hurricane?
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/waskhur.htm

"The figure you usually see is that the latent heat energy
released in a hurricane in one day could be equivalent of
the energy released by 400, twenty-megaton hydrogen bombs."

So, the usual figure for the energy in a hurricane totals out
around 8000 megatons, or eight billion tons of TNT.

Here is what could be considered a very accurate figure for
the total power contained the world's supply of atomuc weapons.

From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Nuclear Q&A.
What is the total explosive power of the world's nuclear arsenals?
http://www.bullatomsci.org/research/qanda/worldarsenals.html

"Currently, the total destructive power of the world's known
nuclear arsenals is equal to apporximately five billion tons
of TNT--or 5000 Megatons."

If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.


Search Strategy:

Google search on: "hydrogen bombs" hurricane equivalent
://www.google.com/search?q=%22hydrogen+bombs%22+hurricane+equivalent
 
Google search on: total megatons world
://www.google.com/search?q=total+megatons+world

Looking Forward, denco-ga

"So how much power is there in wind? The book Perfect Storm says a
full hurricane contains the energy of all the nuclear weapons on Earth
being detonated at once."

http://www.highway7.com/t_sustainable/sustainable_0110_whowind.html

Howdy rakr,

I am going to post this as a comment.  If it suffices as an
Answer, please inform me and I will repost it as such.

KEYS HISTOREUM, Presented by the Historical Preservation
Society of the Upper KeysGeneral History of Hurricanes.
Anatomy of a Hurricane By Jerry Wilkinson
http://www.keyshistory.org/35-anatomy1.html

"It is very difficult to scale down the immence size,
energy and power released from a hurricane - some say
equivalent to 400 20-megaton hydrogen bombs, or if
converted to electricity, enough to power the entire
U.S. for six months."

USA Today
Q: How much energy is generated daily by a major (category 3 or more) hurricane?
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/waskhur.htm

"The figure you usually see is that the latent heat energy
released in a hurricane in one day could be equivalent of
the energy released by 400, twenty-megaton hydrogen bombs."

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - Nuclear Q&A
What is the total explosive power of the world's nuclear arsenals?
http://www.bullatomsci.org/research/qanda/worldarsenals.html

"Currently, the total destructive power of the world's
known nuclear arsenals is equal to apporximately five
billion tons of TNT--or 5000 Megatons."


Search Strategy

Google search on: "hydrogen bombs" hurricane equivalent
://www.google.com/search?q=%22hydrogen+bombs%22+hurricane+equivalent

Google search on: total megatons world
://www.google.com/search?q=total+megatons+world

Looking Forward, denco-ga