A new study argues that the moisture levels and landscapes of cities influence hurricane movements. Professor Johnny Chan‘s research team claims that “cities impose greater friction on the swirling flow because of the tall buildings . . . tropical cyclones tend to be ‘attracted’ towards areas of higher friction. So it is possible that cities could cause tropical cyclones to veer towards them.” The full report will be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. [%comments]
Do Hurricanes Prefer Cities?
and 
. You can also watch it on 
Maybe the storms have just heard about the great sushi in downtown… not necessarily as fresh as the fish out in the ocean, but there’s something to be said for quality preparation/presentation.
On the other hand it’s well-known that tornadoes prefer trailer parks. When was the last time you read about a tornado hitting, say, downtown Atlanta, or any other large city? And when was the last time you read about a tornado hitting a trailer park?
And tornadoes are somewhat similar to hurricanes — both are rotating storm systems, although there’s a significant difference in scale.
I have heard of a study that indicated that (at least for Atlanta) the pavement and buildings created more heat than the surrounding areas. If that is the case, and if it is the opposite case that cool air can cause a hurricane to break down, then maybe it’s the heat that the storm is drawn to?
At the same time, I can see the friction making sense. If you spin a top and it starts touching some threads or something that causes a degree of friction, it does not “retreat,” but spin “into” it.
Of course, it could be that we simply build cities in areas that are prone to hurricanes (e.g., coastal areas). To my knowledge, a hurricane has never hit Denver. Go figure.
In regards of post #2, Google Atlanta and tornado, and you’ll find the following story (among others) dateline March 14, 2010.
“Sunday marks the second anniversary of the tornado that hit downtown Atlanta.
The 130 mph tornado ripped through the city, leaving a path of destruction on March 14, 2008.
One person was killed near downtown. The storm blew out windows from dozens of high-rise buildings and tossed trees and cars. Homes were also damaged.
The twister hit while thousands of basketball fans were watching a Southeast Conference college basketball tournament in the Georgia dome. Thousands more were watching an NBA game in Phillips Arena. Both venues felt the impact of the storm’s damaging path.”
That hurricane tore through our town, destroyed 50 houses and did over $7000 in damage.
Rubbish
paul clapham – last year a tornado went right down one of the main drags in Minneapolis. Not the core downtown, but just 2 miles south. Which is not to argue that trailer parks are not a greater attractant.
They are out to get us! I KNEW IT! Tin-foil hat time…
But it sure is interesting that our behaviour can influence local weather enough to raise the risk of destruction. I wonder what can be done to mitigate this. Smoother buildings? Better layout of cities to create less friction? Dummy rough patches to balance out the attraction? More cellars, fewer skyscrapers? The mind boggles that we have to think about this too.