Hurricanes & The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

(Dive Travel Business News - June 7, 2010) -- Hurricane Season is in its first week and reports are in that the first Eastern Pacific Hurricane could cross over to the Gulf of Mexico. While forecasters predict there is only a 10% chance that this hurricane could hit the Oil Spill reason, the question remains - what happens when a hurricane hits the oil spill?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has prepared a Hurricane & The Oil Spill FAQ to address the very real question. According to NOAA, the good news is that the high winds and seas will mix and “weather” the oil which can help accelerate the biodegradation process. Also, a hurricane passing to the east of the slick could drive the oil away from the coast. The bad news is that a hurricane passing west of the slick could drive the oil spill to the coast line.

According to NOAA, most hurricanes span 200-300 miles, which is far wider than the current size of the spill. If the slick remains small in comparison to a typical hurricane’s general environment and size, the oil slick is not expected to appreciably affect either the intensity or the track of a fully developed tropical storm or hurricane. The oil slick would have little effect on the storm surge or near-shore wave heights. A hurricane’s impact on an oil slick has the potential to be greater. The high winds may distribute oil over a wider area, but it is difficult to model exactly where the oil may be transported.

There are many unknown variables that make it difficult to predict how a hurricane and the oil spill would interact: The evolution of the storm, the track, the wind speed, the size, the forward motion and the intensity would need to be determined before predicitions are made. For more information, see NOAA's Oil Spill Response Fact Sheet. Learn more about NOAA’s response to the BP oil spill here.

Additional Information: DEMA's Dive Industry Response to Oil Spill

For NOAA Oil Spill Updates:  Emergency Response

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