Image

Improving Hurricane Prediction

June 23, 2018

A view of Silver Beach in North Falmouth, Mass., after the hurricane of 1938 is a reminder of the damage hurricanes can cause. Jeff Donnelly and colleagues in the WHOI Coastal Systems Group are reconstructing the history of past storms over the past 3,000 years by analyzing sediments taken from salt marshes, coastal ponds, and blue holes. The research will help scientists understand the factors that spawn hurricanes and help predict hurricane frequency and intensities in the future. Meanwhile, WHOI oceanographer Steve Jayne is using new floats, launched from airplanes into the ocean in front of hurricanes, to measure heat content in the upper ocean and help improve forecasts of hurricane intensities. (Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)