Fact Check: Scientists Did NOT 'Admit' They Can Create Hurricanes In Real Life -- Hurricane Simulations Were Done In A Laboratory

Fact Check

  • by: Randy Travis
Fact Check: Scientists Did NOT 'Admit' They Can Create Hurricanes In Real Life -- Hurricane Simulations Were Done In A Laboratory Only In Lab

Did scientists at the University of Miami "admit" in 2015 that they can create real hurricanes? No, that's not true: A "CBS This Morning" news story from 2015 showed the lab and interviewed the scientists conducting the tests, which involved using a 1,700-horsepower fan to move water in a 38,000-gallon tank. Scientists did develop hurricane-like conditions in a lab setting to better study how to save lives when real hurricanes occur.

The question about hurricane-creating scientists was asked in the caption for a video (archived here) posted on TikTok on October 16, 2024, under the title, "PAY CLOSE ATTENTION VIDEO IS OVER 9 YEARS OLD".

The caption under the video read:

DID THEY JUST ADMIT THEY DISCOVERED THE TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE CATEGORY 5 HURRICANES?

This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:

TikTok screenshot

(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Oct 17 16:45:48 2024 UTC)

Following back-to-back deadly hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, some social media posts suggested without evidence that the U.S. government was creating and controlling such storms and the places where they came ashore. Lead Stories debunks of some of these claims are here.

The video included in the post on TikTok comes from a May 29, 2015, broadcast (archived here) by "CBS This Morning." The show profiled the work of the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science (archived here) at the University of Miami. A video portion of that story was included in the TikTok post to raise the question of whether scientists could create Category 5 hurricanes.

The answer: They created Category 5 hurricane-like conditions -- but only in a laboratory, in a 38,000-gallon tank. It's called the Surge Structure Atmosphere Interaction Laboratory or SUSTAIN. The university posted a short video (archived here) about SUSTAIN on YouTube on June 11, 2024.

According to the 2015 CBS news story, scientists filled the tank with seawater, then used a computer program and a 1,700-horsepower fan to create wind inside the tank of up to 157 miles per hour, similar to wind speeds in a Category 5 hurricane. (archived here).

Using the tank, researchers were able to track storm surges and the effect of water temperature to create more dangerous storms.

There was nothing in the CBS report shared on TikTok that suggested scientists can create real hurricanes outside of a tank in a laboratory.

Lead Stories contacted the University of Miami about the claim and will update this story if a response is received.

Previous Lead Stories fact checks of claims about hurricanes can be found here.

Want to inform others about the accuracy of this story?

See who is sharing it (it might even be your friends...) and leave the link in the comments.:

Randy Travis is a Peabody and Murrow Award-winning reporter based in Atlanta, GA. He spent 45 years in print and broadcast journalism, including 30 years as an investigative reporter for the FOX 5 Atlanta I-Team. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.A in Broadcast News. At Lead Stories, Randy is a writer and fact checker.

Read more about or contact Randy Travis

About Us

International Fact-Checking Organization Meta Third-Party Fact Checker

Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
Spotted something? Let us know!.

Lead Stories is a:


WhatsApp Tipline

Have a tip or a question? Chat with our friendly robots on WhatsApp!

Add our number +1 (404) 655-4223, follow this link or scan the image below with your phone:

@leadstories

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required

Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Lead Stories LLC:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Most Read

Most Recent

Share your opinion