News Climate

Rain slows whipping hurricane winds

Taking drop drag into account could help improve forecasts

hurricane eye

EYE OF THE STORM  Rain pouring along the edges of the eye of a hurricane, such as during 2010’s Hurricane Igor (shown), slow the storm’s winds, new research suggests.

NASA

By Thomas Sumner

- More than 2 years ago

Heavy downpours put a damper on hurricanes, new research suggests.

Running simple hurricane simulations, researchers have demonstrated that descending raindrops produce significant friction as they fall along the edges of a hurricane’s eye.