How much does a hurricane weigh?

[Alex Franke]

Just about every time it rains I'm amazed by just how much mass there is just floating around up there in the sky. If I'm not mistaken, a gallon of water is along the lines of 8 1/3 pounds. In a single storm I can collect nearly a ton of water from my roof before the rain barrels start over flowing.

Even the smallest, wispiest, cotton-ball-like cloud up in the sky must be pretty darn massive. But what about Gustav or some other major storm?

Anyone out there that can make an educated guess about its instantaneous mass -- or its lifetime mass for that matter?

[ironhat]

I guess it all depends on how many cars are in there as well.

[cgallery]

They were saying up to 24" of rain. If that were to happen (I don't think it did) I guess you could compute the area that gets hit by the rain and then the volume. A lot of water.

Thank God it never really rains cats and dogs.

[Uncle Cracker]

Here's a couple of numbers... A gallon of water will cover 231 square inches at a depth of 1 inch. That's only 0.036 pounds per square inch, when your body bears 14 psi in normal atmosphere without feeling it (although technically the internal pressure of the body pretty much equalizes that). Point is that the weight of the water while a vapor is not a big deal within the atmosphere.

However, when concentrated in a liquid, it can be quite ponderous. It takes 27,154 gallons of water to cover an acre 1 inch deep. That's nearly a quarter million pounds per acre per inch, or 5M pounds per acre after a 20" downpour like we had in some areas of FL during TS Kay.

If a storm covers a million acres with that much rain, that's 5 trillion pounds of water, but that only represents a drawdown of the Earth's water surface through evaporation of just 0.0000112 inches. Mind boggling, isn't it?

[cabinetman]

Here's a couple of numbers... A gallon of water will cover 231 square inches at a depth of 1 inch. That's only 0.036 pounds per square inch, when your body bears 14 psi in normal atmosphere without feeling it (although technically the internal pressure of the body pretty much equalizes that). Point is that the weight of the water while a vapor is not a big deal within the atmosphere.

However, when concentrated in a liquid, it can be quite ponderous. It takes 27,154 gallons of water to cover an acre 1 inch deep. That's nearly a quarter million pounds per acre per inch, or 5M pounds per acre after a 20" downpour like we had in some areas of FL during TS Kay.

If a storm covers a million acres with that much rain, that's 5 trillion pounds of water, but that only represents a drawdown of the Earth's water surface through evaporation of just 0.0000112 inches. Mind boggling, isn't it?

Sounds about right give or take a pound or two. Did you consider the collection of airborne particulants and their weight that is collected and become part of the moisture solution before they make landfall, or would their quantities be relatively negligible?
.

[Uncle Cracker]

Sounds about right give or take a pound or two. Did you consider the collection of airborne particulants and their weight that is collected and become part of the moisture solution before they make landfall, or would their quantities be relatively negligible?
.

Effects negated by lighter-than-air trace elements present in typical sampling...

[gsmittle]

This thread reminds me of the discussions we used to have during "circle time" in college...

Did you know there's this car that runs on water, man?

g.

[LCHIEN]

It blows my mind to think of it but this will give you a good start if you persist:

http://192.211.16.13/curricular/sail...Zhurricane.htm

[Alex Franke]

If a storm covers a million acres with that much rain, that's 5 trillion pounds of water, but that only represents a drawdown of the Earth's water surface through evaporation of just 0.0000112 inches. Mind boggling, isn't it?

Indeed... It really is...

I also found this site that happens to answer this question in terms of elephants of all things.... 40 million of them. http://www.wsi.com/corporate/newsroo...oudWeight.html