Hurricane! (Nova)

DVD cover of the Nova episode. You can purchase it on ShopPBS.org

Hurricane! (episode: 1616 (308)) is a Nova episode that aired on November 7, 1989 on PBS. The episode describes the fury of a hurricane and the history of hurricane forecasting. The episode features footage of Hurricane Camille of 1969 and Hurricane Gilbert of 1988 and behind the scenes footage at the National Hurricane Center as forecasters tracked Hurricane Gilbert from its formation to its landfall in northern Mexico. Meteorologists, Hugh Willoughby, Bob Sheets (then director of the National Hurricane Center) and Jeff Masters were shown in the episode.^[1] The episode was released on VHS home video under the same episode title and distributed by WGBH Boston video.^[2] In 2004, the Nova episode was released on DVD and featured a different cover picture and title style.^[3] In 1997, UAV Corp. also distributed the Nova episode under the title Deadly Hurricanes which contains additional footage of Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Iniki of 1992. The UAV version of the episode has since been discontinued.^[4]

Quotes

• "It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen"- Hugh Willoughby.^[1]
• "Even if we could issue the perfect forecast, it does no good unless you motivate people to take the right action."- Bob Sheets.^[1]

BBC Horizon Version

On March 12, 1990, the British public TV, aired in a re-narrated version, on the science show Horizon based on the original 'GBH production.

References