Hail Cannons.

June 15, 2006 3:56 PM

Hail Cannons look awesome. They've apparently been around for along time, but they occasionally annoy the neighbors. Can we wipe out hail in our lifetimes?
posted by mattbucher (20 comments total)

I've got these nifty little things you can stick on your cell phone to prevent brain cancer. I've stuck them on every cell phone I've owned so far, and I haven't gotten brain cancer yet!
posted by dmd at 4:27 PM on June 15, 2006

I bet they do annoy the neighbors. Having what amounts to a giant carbide cannon going off every five seconds for several hours sounds like a good prescription for a major headache.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 4:30 PM on June 15, 2006

This shockwave, clearly audible as a large whistling sound...

My carbide cannons never whistled, smally or largely.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:02 PM on June 15, 2006

Hail hates our freedoms.

And our tomatoes.
posted by yoink at 5:10 PM on June 15, 2006

I think the article is wrong. It doesn't make sense to me that the sucker could be useful unless it's generation sharp concussions so as to fire vortices at the clouds. If it's making a "whistling" sound then it isn't doing anything useful at all.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:35 PM on June 15, 2006

The Hail Cannon is a shock wave generator used to disrupt the formation of hailstones in their growing phase. An explosive charge of acetylene gas & air is fired in the lower chamber of the machine. As the resulting energy passes through the neck & into the cone it develops into a force that becomes a shockwave. This shockwave, clearly audible as a large whistling sound, then travels at the speed of sound into & through the cloud formations above, disrupting the growth phase of the hailstones.

Not a chance. A shockwave isn't a "whistling sound". A shockwave is a boom. Simple fact is, I think they're lying about that part.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:37 PM on June 15, 2006

the secret of their success

"These manufacturers will claim that they will guarantee that the cannons will prevent hail from hitting in a certain radius," Biggerstaff said. "It's easy to make that claim that it would work, because the probability of hail hitting in one spot is rare. There are better ways for farmers to spend money."


If hail stones are expanded after forming over a matter of hours or days. how can a tool that purportedly prevents them from forming work to protect the immediate area?
posted by Megafly at 5:38 PM on June 15, 2006

With the claimed coverage and the cost, protection works out to about $1 per square foot, with what? a five year window? I don't know how bad it is in the hail-prone corridors, but that seems like a weak return on investment. How many apples can get hit in a square foot?
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:50 PM on June 15, 2006

... the World Meteorological Organization dismisses cannons as nonsense, saying that “there is neither a scientific basis nor a credible hypothesis to support such activities.”

Interesting. I'm surprised that I couldn't find anything on Snope's or Skeptic's Dictionary about this.
posted by Afroblanco at 5:53 PM on June 15, 2006

Come to think of it, I've never had kidney stones. Ever.
and where have all the dogs gone?
posted by hal9k at 6:08 PM on June 15, 2006

Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm.
Lisa: That's spacious reasoning, Dad.
Homer: Thank you, dear.
Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.
Homer: Oh, how does it work?
Lisa: It doesn't work.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: It's just a stupid rock.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: But I don't see any tigers around, do you?
[Homer thinks of this, then pulls out some money]
Homer: Lisa, I want to buy your rock.
posted by brain_drain at 6:57 PM on June 15, 2006

spacious -> specious (damn cut and paste)
posted by brain_drain at 6:58 PM on June 15, 2006

Hey, weren't these the same thing that was on that Kate Bush cover?
posted by Relay at 7:00 PM on June 15, 2006

That Eggers in Pod 6 builds some crazy stuff.

I hate Pod 6.
posted by fusinski at 9:10 PM on June 15, 2006

This reminds me of the giant fans that vineyards are apparently using now, to keep their grapes from getting too hot (or is it cold? I dunno). My aunt lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and apparently they run these things at all hours of the day/night, and even SHE can hear them, miles away from the nearest vineyard (while some poor schmucks paid boatloads of money to live right next door!).
posted by antifuse at 1:48 AM on June 16, 2006

When I was a kid I reckoned hail was just about the coolest thing ever.
posted by crowman at 8:28 AM on June 16, 2006

After completing a two-year test, no hail was observed in Austria, while the surrounding provinces had severe hail damage. Believing that this test proved that the cannons were successful, other areas in Europe began using them for the protection of their cash crops. This resulted in a "cannon fever" in Europe which made Italy deploy over 2000 cannons by 1899. The fever was soon lost when the cannons proved ineffective. Although this attempt and many others failed, inventors also developed successful weather modification inventions during the nineteenth century. Some of these are smudge pots, sprinklers, and wind machines used to fight frost (The Atmosphere).

What goes around...
posted by heydanno at 9:07 AM on June 16, 2006

or, rather, it's one, big, 107-year cycle.
posted by heydanno at 9:08 AM on June 16, 2006

The thing on the Kate Bush album cover was a cloudbuster. Do a search for Wilhelm Reich, cloudbusting and Orgone Energy. People still believe in that nonsense.
posted by tomble at 10:52 AM on June 16, 2006

Damn, and here I was going to post my obligatory "They're cloudbusting, daddy..." reference. You kids are just too quick for me.
posted by mykescipark at 1:21 AM on June 17, 2006