Dyn-o-mat's back again --will seed a TS in '05

[Anonymous]

Where were they last year???
Oh:
"Dyn-O-Mat is based in Jupiter, Fla., an area that got pummeled by three out of the four hurricanes to hit the state last year. Some of the company’s buildings were damaged and several employees lost their homes. "

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/weather/n ... ryid=38184

JUPITER, FL -- A Florida businessman who claims he once made a thundercloud disappear from Doppler radar says he can take the fury out of hurricanes, too.

Peter Cordani isn’t a meteorologist or even a weather aficionado. He’s just a Florida CEO sick of seeing his state pounded by hurricanes.

As head honcho at Dyn-O-Mat, a maker of environmental absorbents, it dawned on Cordani about five years ago that his company’s patented Dyn-O-Gel might have the power to take the punch out of hurricanes.

His first true test of the theory came in July 2001, when the company used a B-57 bomber to attack a thunderclap with the super absorbent polymer in the waters off Palm Beach. The storm evaporated completely from Doppler radar, according to Cordani.

"It was an incredible moment," he said.

Bolstered by the success of the field test, Cordani gathered a team of scientists and investors, plus a convoy of 747 jetliners from Evergreen Aviation in Colorado, for the mother of all trials.

The group plans to tackle a tropical storm this hurricane season, which begins today. Cordani says that attacking a pie-shaped sliver of a hurricane as it forms over water could slow the storm down by 15 to 20 mph, causing the winds to turn on themselves.

"We’re not going to get rid of the storm," he said. "There will still be heavy rain. We’re just trying to take the punch out of it."

The idea of using weather modification techniques to take the fury out of hurricanes and tornadoes isn’t new. From 1962 until 1983, the National Weather Service undertook an ambitious experiment known as Project Stormfury."

The project was based on a theory called "cloud seeding," a process of using silver iodide to stimulate precipitation in clouds. In Project Stormfury, the idea was that seeding near the eye of the hurricane would force the wall to reform and reduce the strongest winds.

Scientists attempted to modify four hurricanes on eight different days during the experiment. On four of the eight days, wind speeds decreased by 10 percent to 30 percent. On four other days, nothing happened.

In the end, the government suspended the program after scientists could offer no proof that the storms slowed down due to the interference of man. Since then, there has been no federal funding for hurricane modification research.

Cordani’s fighting to change that. "Florida got hit with billions in property damages last year," he said. "What’s it going to mean to the government to spend $100 million on research to fight that damage next time around?"

But the National Weather Service isn’t impressed with Dyn-O-Mat’s claims. Neither was the National Hurricane Center, which determined it would require nearly 400 planes with 100-ton payloads to harness the power of a hurricane.

Cordani counters that it would only take ten jetliners carrying 200,000 pounds of Dyn-O-Gel to take the bite out of a massive storm. And he argues that there’s nothing for the government to lose by working with him on research.

He says Dyn-O-Gel is non-toxic and biodegradable. It falls into the water as gel after absorbing massive amounts of precipitation from a storm. He claims his company’s super absorbent polymer can hold up to 3,000 times its weight in liquid.

After the B-57 bomber experiment in 2001, television stations in Palm Beach reported finding a green gel washing up on the beaches in the area. Reports of the gooey substance in the water came from as far away as Mexico.

But Cordani swears the stuff is safe. "I know for a fact there’s more poison in French fries than my product," he said.

Dyn-O-Mat is based in Jupiter, Fla., an area that got pummeled by three out of the four hurricanes to hit the state last year. Some of the company’s buildings were damaged and several employees lost their homes.

"I don’t think there’s a naysayer in Florida doesn’t want research done on this project," Cordani said.

Created: 6/1/2005 10:44:12 AM
Updated: 6/1/2005 11:51:46 AM

[Scorpion]

We got a TS and a Cat 1, hardly getting "pummeled by three out of the four hurricanes". I think this Dyno-Mat junk is the stupidest thing ever. A hurricane has thousands of times the energy of a thunderstorm.

[canegrl04]

Dyno-Mat is a fraud

[HurryKane]

He says Dyn-O-Gel is non-toxic and biodegradable. It falls into the water as gel after absorbing massive amounts of precipitation from a storm. He claims his company’s super absorbent polymer can hold up to 3,000 times its weight in liquid.

So, he creates a giant flying maxi-pad that just disappears into thin air?

I would rather not be under said maxi-pad when it fails to disintegrate and falls from the sky onto some poor city, suffocating thousands under what is essentially the biggest glob of diaper you've ever seen.

[Cookiely]

This reminds me of the article I read this week in the Tampa Tribune which stated that in August of 1945 just hours after they dropped the Hiroshima bomb a Lee County commisioner offered a 7500 acre tract of land as a base for the atomic bombing of hurricanes. I don't think you should fool around with mother nature.

[storm4u]

they are so stupid!! If they think that this is actually gunna work they are crazy no question about that!!!

[LCfromFL]

Is Dyn-O-Mat kinda like Va-POO-Rizer (that stuff in that Jack Black movie)????

[Wpwxguy]

Tinkering with mother nature is a definite no no. I think he wants to sell his polymer to the governments of the world and make billions. Not going to happen. Even if it could be knocked down a little, I did not vote for him to be the one that does it. NO NO NO!

[Brent]

We got a TS and a Cat 1, hardly getting "pummeled by three out of the four hurricanes". I think this Dyno-Mat junk is the stupidest thing ever. A hurricane has thousands of times the energy of a thunderstorm.

Frances and Jeanne?

[HurryKane]

I recall a show on either Discovery or Discovery Science Channel that discussed tampering with the weather, and that some attempt by the military to do so early last century resulted in disastrous rains over some eastern states (wish I could recall the details).

Not cool, paw paw.

Scientific American also had an article in an issue last year that discussed other people's ideas of changing the course of a hurricane by changing the temperature either within it or under it (on the sea surface). The main crux of their theory was that a change in the hurricane's energy, if made early enough in the track, could push it off course a few degrees and perhaps keep it from hitting a major city or island.

They basically found this out by running models of past hurricanes backwards: for instance, they'd start with Hurricane Hatty (example) and push its track over a few degrees and then run the model backwards to see what kind of energy it would have at the point where it diverged from the real track. Then they would calculate the difference between the real Hatty's energy, and the off-track Hatty's energy, and postulate that they could actually change it by changing temperature or whatever. edit for clarity: They postulated that they could actually create that difference in energy once they'd found out the amount, by changing the temperature or some other variable of the system. They really, really think they can do this, although they didn't go into much detail as to how to effect such a change.


I'll see if I can find it and scan it in or at least give some details. It made for interesting reading, and almost made sense...but I am a skeptic when it comes to pushing around bigguns like hurricanes.

[Josephine96]

Frances and Jeanne were mean storms.. as was big brother CHARLEY

[Scorpion]

They were bad alright, but the wind gauges dont lie. The max sustained winds around here with Frances were about 70 mph or so with gusts in the 90s, and with Jeanne the sustained winds were around 85 mph.

[HurricaneBill]

I think there are a ton of naysayers in Florida who would say no to storm modification.

Suppose something went wrong and the Dyn-o-Mat STRENGTHENED the hurricane?

Leave Mother Nature alone!

After all, it's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

[HurricaneBill]

This reminds me of the article I read this week in the Tampa Tribune which stated that in August of 1945 just hours after they dropped the Hiroshima bomb a Lee County commisioner offered a 7500 acre tract of land as a base for the atomic bombing of hurricanes. I don't think you should fool around with mother nature.

Nuking a hurricane would be pointless.

1. A hurricane has the power of millions of A-Bombs. What's one A-Bomb gonna do?

2. The radiation would get caught up in the circulation and spread over a large area.

[Brent]

They were bad alright, but the wind gauges dont lie. The max sustained winds around here with Frances were about 70 mph or so with gusts in the 90s, and with Jeanne the sustained winds were around 85 mph.

Yes... where your at. But officially they are called Cat 2 and Cat 3's respectively. You were on the weak side of both.

[Wpwxguy]

Like I said,its a no no.

[Wpwxguy]

I recall a show on either Discovery or Discovery Science Channel that discussed tampering with the weather, and that some attempt by the military to do so early last century resulted in disastrous rains over some eastern states (wish I could recall the details).

Not cool, paw paw.

Scientific American also had an article in an issue last year that discussed other people's ideas of changing the course of a hurricane by changing the temperature either within it or under it (on the sea surface). The main crux of their theory was that a change in the hurricane's energy, if made early enough in the track, could push it off course a few degrees and perhaps keep it from hitting a major city or island.

They basically found this out by running models of past hurricanes backwards: for instance, they'd start with Hurricane Hatty (example) and push its track over a few degrees and then run the model backwards to see what kind of energy it would have at the point where it diverged from the real track. Then they would calculate the difference between the real Hatty's energy, and the off-track Hatty's energy, and postulate that they could actually change it by changing temperature or whatever.


I'll see if I can find it and scan it in or at least give some details. It made for interesting reading, and almost made sense...but I am a skeptic when it comes to pushing around bigguns like hurricanes.

Thats a good post paw paw.............. I wonder who else here knows who paw paw is? I do! The Discovery show was correct in my book. If you mess with mother nature, your bound to get burned. Someone should stop this guy, however I don't think he'll do much harm with his jello.

[Orlando_wx]

here he goes again dyn o mat all except last year he has been talking to who ever will listen to try to get this project off the ground if i remember correctly a few years back when Bob Sheets was doing a interview about hurricanes some asked him about Dyn o mat and his answer was kinda interesting he said that the company thats trying to stop or slow down hurricanes will be biting off more than they could chew and not to mess with mother nature.

John

[HurryKane]

Thats a good post paw paw.............. I wonder who else here knows who paw paw is? I do! The Discovery show was correct in my book. If you mess with mother nature, your bound to get burned. Someone should stop this guy, however I don't think he'll do much harm with his jello.

Whoo, glad somebody got it *kicks tire*

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

I'm really getting sick of hearing this stupid joke every year. A hurricane or even a tropical storm has enough power to light the united states for years. In they don't have a clue what there dealing with. Leave the weather the heck alone.