While the Florida panhandle was hammered by inclement weather on Monday, Tallahassee was mostly unscathed by the severe thunderstorms. A wild theory involving the world’s largest magnet at Florida State University gained even more traction when applied to the latest radar imagery.
The MagLab strikes again!
To be completely honest, I did not know about this hypothesis until Hurricane Helene struck the state of Florida back in September. It appeared as though the catastrophic storm was headed straight for the state capital so Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel was in town, which is never a good sign. However, the hurricane shifted direction at the very last minute and spared Tallahassee from catastrophic damage.
I have been fascinated ever since so let’s break it down!
Approximately two miles south of the main campus at Florida State University sits a building formally known as the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory— National MagLab for short. It is a science research facility funded by the National Science Foundation and the State of Florida that houses largest and highest-powered magnetic laboratory in the world.
A number of different magnets are located inside the lab, but two stand out among the rest. One is a ’32 Tesla Superconducting Magnet’ that “combines conventional ‘low-temperature’ and novel ‘high-temperature’ superconductors.” It is the strongest of its kind on earth.
The other is a ’45 Tesla Hybrid Magnet.’ It combines a “superconducting magnet of 11.5 tesla with a resistive magnet of 33.5 tesla.”
Is Florida State’s MagLab controlling the weather?
Like I mentioned, Tallahassee was largely spared from the wrath of Hurricane Helene last year. Some people (including scientists!) believe the magnet pushed the eye of the storm away from the city and continues to do so.
Monday is yet another example. Though not nearly to hurricane strength, a line of strong thunderstorms rolled through the region but Tallahassee stayed mostly dry. Take a look at the radar:
The visual is even more remarkable when you zoom in further on the city. The MagLab is located right around where the arrow points. It seemingly cuts through the weather like a butter knife.
That’s insane!
There are a lot of people who believe in the Florida State MagLab weather theory, myself included, but it has not been confirmed as truth backed by official science or whatever. Fine. Let’s just be real here. Look at that radar. It has to be real!