Irving P. Krick
Encyclopedia
Dr. Irving P. Krick was an American meteorologist
and inventor, the founding professor of Department of Meteorology at California Institute of Technology
(1933–1948), one of the U.S. Air Force meteorologists who provided forecasts for the Normandy Landings in 1944, a controversial pioneer of long-term forecasting and cloud seeding
, and "a brilliant American salesman" who in 1938 started the first private weather business in the United States.
in physics
. However, his first career aspiration was music. Krick was an accomplished pianist and pursued music professionally but found it financially unrewarding. Still in early twenties he worked at the radio station and at a stock brokerage – until the Wall Street Crash of 1929
. Finally, working for an airline and advice from his brother-in-law, Horace Byers, an MIT graduate, helped him find his true interest in weather.
in the Department of Aeronautics, which provided only a few courses in meteorology, notably by Beno Gutenberg
(atmospheric structure) and Theodore von Kármán
(aeronautics), Krick's advisors in his doctoral studies. Caltech offered the first dedicated meteorology class in the 1933–1934 season. Krick made his name known by a controversial paper asserting that the 1933 crash of USS Akron
was a direct consequence of a mistaken forecast by the Weather Bureau. Krick's paper was instrumental to von Kármán's work explaining the actual cause of Akron disaster; he was also instrumental in determining the cause of the USS Macon
crash in 1935. These publications brought Krick to the attention of the US Air Force; Krick befriended Air Force chief Hap Arnold
, then a colonel stationed at March Field
not far from CalTech.
Krick completed his doctoral degree in 1934 and remained at Caltech as an instructor. In 1937 he helped found the school's meteorology department and became its head. The department was unique in its commercial focus on the needs of profitable industries, including not just aviation, but almost anyone willing to pay, including the movie industry, for which Krick famously forecast the weather for the burning of Atlanta in Gone With The Wind
. Krick was determined about making money; "weather forecasting was his product line, although, like many a great salesmen, his number one product was himself". He then stayed as a professor, offering a special curriculum for Arnold's nascent Air Force Weather Service.
Caltech terminated the meteorology department in 1948. In response, Krick left the school to start his own firm, taking with him most of the department staff.
Arnold recruited Krick into the Air Force. Krick prevailed over other, scientifically inclined meteorologists: while they searched for causes of natural phenomena, Krick relied on analyzing historic patterns and cycles. He reused old weather maps that resembled current situation, arguing that future weather developments will most likely follow the recorded patterns - the same "weather typing" that brought him commissions from Hollywood studios. Critics called Krick's methods "canned memory". The primitive methods and aggressive salesmanship made Krick an enemy of scientific elite like George Cressman and Carl-Gustaf Rossby
and Weather Bureau chief Francis W. Reichelderfer, who detested Krick as a "smug, supremely self-confident self-promoter". However, with Arnold's backing Krick was nearly invincible.
In 1944 Krick was engaged in meteorology support for the upcoming Allied Normandy Landings, along with rival weather services from the United Kingdom and U.S. Navy. On May 28 Sverre Petterssen
, a Norwegian
meteorologist in British service, raised concerns that a coming storm would break out on June 2 and interfere with the landings planned on June 5. Krick argued to the contrary, asserting that there is no need to postpone the offensive – he saw nothing but continuously quiet weather over the next five days. Krick based his confidence on studies of 50 years of recorded weather; he was certain that the English Channel
is protected by the Azores High
, a pressure pattern dominating over the Eastern Atlantic. Unusually to normal practice, as time passed by, the uncertainties of weather forecasting did not dissolve, and, as the countdown continued, tension between Krick and Petterssen increased further. June 3, Colonel Donald Yates (deputy to chief meteorologist James Martin Stagg
), former student of Krick and one of the few people who could handle him, finally intervened into the rivalry and forced the Allied meteorologists to produce a joint, unified weather forecast. In the end, Petterssen's opinion prevailed and was proved in real life; despite Krick's initial objection, the landings were delayed by one day, saving the troops from an imminent disaster.
, forcing precipitation in drought-affected areas.
In summer of 1948 Krick performed the first series of 27 airborne cloud seeding tests over central Arizona
, dropping up to 300 pounds (136.1 kg) of ice particles on each flight. Indeed, the seeded clouds released rain, raising water levels in local reservoirs. The "rain makers" admitted that the result had other, natural, causes, but in a year that was one of the driest on record it was a significant success. Financially, the volume of water added by Krick's experiment cost only $2.50, compared to $14 going rate. In December 1949 Krick suggested cloud seeding without resorting to airborne devices; his proposal employed ground-based smoke generators dispersing vaporized silver iodide
. A single smoke dispenser set, asserted Krick, could be moved by two wheelbarrow
s; it theoretically provided cloud-seeding particles for an area of 240 square miles (621.6 km²). Tests demonstrated a fourfold increase in precipitation. By 1951 his cloud-seeding business had 120 employees and had been hired to seed clouds over 330 million acres (1,335,463.8 km²) in the western United States as well as parts of Mexico
and San Salvador
.
However, the American meteorological establishment opposed his practice, asserting his methods of cloud seeding were bogus and the weather could not be forecast for more than five days in the future. Krick decided to offer his long term forecasting to the Weather Bureau, but they too did not believe in his methods, so he started a private business. He successfully proved his basic premises, making a substantial profit from forecasts and weather making. Krick's practice caught the eye of many famous figures, and he was hired to forecast the weather for presidential inauguration
s and movie shoots. He garnered attention in 1957 when his prediction of sunny weather for President Eisenhower's second inauguration, made 17 days before the event, came true. Of his most notable achievements, Dr. Krick also made rain in Israel after a severe drought, made it stop hailing in Alberta, Canada, and made enough snow for the 1960 Winter Olympics
to take place. ,
During the mid-sixties, Irving P. Krick & Associates operated a successful cloud seeding operation in the area around Calgary, Alberta. This utilized both aircraft and ground-based generators that pumped silver iodide into the atmosphere in an attempt to reduce the threat of hail damage. Ralph Langeman, Lynn Garrison
, and Stan McLeod, all ex-members of the RCAF, attending the University of Alberta, spent their summers flying hail suppression. A number of surplus Harvard aircraft were fitted with racks under each wing containing 32 railroad fuzees that were impregnated with silver iodide. These could be ignited individually or all at once, depending upon the threat. In coordination with ground units, the aircraft would lay a plume of silver iodide in front of approaching cumulo-nimbus clouds with noticeable effect. Large, active CBs were reduced to nothing. Heavy hail storms were reduced in intensity.
This effective program was funded by farmer contributions and government grants. The program was run each summer and did much to reduce crop damage by hail, otherwise the farm community would not have continued to finance the project.
In 1990 Krick sold his weather business to Strategic Weather Services, remaining with that company as chairman emeritus until his 1996 death from heart failure.
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
and inventor, the founding professor of Department of Meteorology at California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
(1933–1948), one of the U.S. Air Force meteorologists who provided forecasts for the Normandy Landings in 1944, a controversial pioneer of long-term forecasting and cloud seeding
Cloud seeding
Cloud seeding, a form of intentional weather modification, is the attempt to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds, by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud...
, and "a brilliant American salesman" who in 1938 started the first private weather business in the United States.
Early years
Krick was born in San Francisco in 1906. He attended college the University of California at Berkeley, achieving a bachelor's degreeBachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. However, his first career aspiration was music. Krick was an accomplished pianist and pursued music professionally but found it financially unrewarding. Still in early twenties he worked at the radio station and at a stock brokerage – until the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
. Finally, working for an airline and advice from his brother-in-law, Horace Byers, an MIT graduate, helped him find his true interest in weather.
Caltech
Around 1930, he began studying at the California Institute of TechnologyCalifornia Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
in the Department of Aeronautics, which provided only a few courses in meteorology, notably by Beno Gutenberg
Beno Gutenberg
Beno Gutenberg was a German-American seismologist who made several important contributions to the science...
(atmospheric structure) and Theodore von Kármán
Theodore von Karman
Theodore von Kármán was a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist who was active primarily in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. He is responsible for many key advances in aerodynamics, notably his work on supersonic and hypersonic airflow characterization...
(aeronautics), Krick's advisors in his doctoral studies. Caltech offered the first dedicated meteorology class in the 1933–1934 season. Krick made his name known by a controversial paper asserting that the 1933 crash of USS Akron
USS Akron (ZRS-4)
USS Akron was a helium-filled rigid airship of the United States Navy that was lost in a weather-related accident off the New Jersey coast early on April 4, 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crew and passengers on board...
was a direct consequence of a mistaken forecast by the Weather Bureau. Krick's paper was instrumental to von Kármán's work explaining the actual cause of Akron disaster; he was also instrumental in determining the cause of the USS Macon
USS Macon (ZRS-5)
USS Macon was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting. She served as a "flying aircraft carrier", launching Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk biplane fighters. In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast,...
crash in 1935. These publications brought Krick to the attention of the US Air Force; Krick befriended Air Force chief Hap Arnold
Henry H. Arnold
Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and later General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps , Commanding General of the U.S...
, then a colonel stationed at March Field
March Joint Air Reserve Base
March Joint Air Reserve Base is located in Riverside County, California between the cities of Riverside and Moreno Valley. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Command's 4th Air Force Headquarters and the 452d Air Mobility Wing , the largest air mobility wing of the 4th Air Force...
not far from CalTech.
Krick completed his doctoral degree in 1934 and remained at Caltech as an instructor. In 1937 he helped found the school's meteorology department and became its head. The department was unique in its commercial focus on the needs of profitable industries, including not just aviation, but almost anyone willing to pay, including the movie industry, for which Krick famously forecast the weather for the burning of Atlanta in Gone With The Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
. Krick was determined about making money; "weather forecasting was his product line, although, like many a great salesmen, his number one product was himself". He then stayed as a professor, offering a special curriculum for Arnold's nascent Air Force Weather Service.
Caltech terminated the meteorology department in 1948. In response, Krick left the school to start his own firm, taking with him most of the department staff.
World War II
With the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Arnold recruited Krick into the Air Force. Krick prevailed over other, scientifically inclined meteorologists: while they searched for causes of natural phenomena, Krick relied on analyzing historic patterns and cycles. He reused old weather maps that resembled current situation, arguing that future weather developments will most likely follow the recorded patterns - the same "weather typing" that brought him commissions from Hollywood studios. Critics called Krick's methods "canned memory". The primitive methods and aggressive salesmanship made Krick an enemy of scientific elite like George Cressman and Carl-Gustaf Rossby
Carl-Gustaf Rossby
Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby was a Swedish-U.S. meteorologist who first explained the large-scale motions of the atmosphere in terms of fluid mechanics....
and Weather Bureau chief Francis W. Reichelderfer, who detested Krick as a "smug, supremely self-confident self-promoter". However, with Arnold's backing Krick was nearly invincible.
In 1944 Krick was engaged in meteorology support for the upcoming Allied Normandy Landings, along with rival weather services from the United Kingdom and U.S. Navy. On May 28 Sverre Petterssen
Sverre Petterssen
Sverre Petterssen was a Norwegian meteorologist, prominent in the field of weather analysis and forecasting, and an international leader in meteorology.-Early life:...
, a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
meteorologist in British service, raised concerns that a coming storm would break out on June 2 and interfere with the landings planned on June 5. Krick argued to the contrary, asserting that there is no need to postpone the offensive – he saw nothing but continuously quiet weather over the next five days. Krick based his confidence on studies of 50 years of recorded weather; he was certain that the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
is protected by the Azores High
Azores High
The Azores High is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure found near the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, at the Horse latitudes...
, a pressure pattern dominating over the Eastern Atlantic. Unusually to normal practice, as time passed by, the uncertainties of weather forecasting did not dissolve, and, as the countdown continued, tension between Krick and Petterssen increased further. June 3, Colonel Donald Yates (deputy to chief meteorologist James Martin Stagg
James Martin Stagg
Group Captain Sir James Martin Stagg, CB, OBE, FRSE was a British Royal Air Force meteorologist who notably persuaded General Dwight D. Eisenhower to change the date of the Allied invasion of Europe in World War II, from June 5 to June 6, 1944.Stagg was born in Dalkeith, Scotland...
), former student of Krick and one of the few people who could handle him, finally intervened into the rivalry and forced the Allied meteorologists to produce a joint, unified weather forecast. In the end, Petterssen's opinion prevailed and was proved in real life; despite Krick's initial objection, the landings were delayed by one day, saving the troops from an imminent disaster.
Post-war practice
After leaving Caltech, Krick continued offering commercial long-term weather forecasts. He also added the service of cloud seedingCloud seeding
Cloud seeding, a form of intentional weather modification, is the attempt to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds, by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud...
, forcing precipitation in drought-affected areas.
In summer of 1948 Krick performed the first series of 27 airborne cloud seeding tests over central Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, dropping up to 300 pounds (136.1 kg) of ice particles on each flight. Indeed, the seeded clouds released rain, raising water levels in local reservoirs. The "rain makers" admitted that the result had other, natural, causes, but in a year that was one of the driest on record it was a significant success. Financially, the volume of water added by Krick's experiment cost only $2.50, compared to $14 going rate. In December 1949 Krick suggested cloud seeding without resorting to airborne devices; his proposal employed ground-based smoke generators dispersing vaporized silver iodide
Silver iodide
Silver iodide is a yellow, inorganic, photosensitive iodide of silver used in photography, in medicine as an antiseptic, and in rainmaking for cloud seeding.-Crystal structure:...
. A single smoke dispenser set, asserted Krick, could be moved by two wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...
s; it theoretically provided cloud-seeding particles for an area of 240 square miles (621.6 km²). Tests demonstrated a fourfold increase in precipitation. By 1951 his cloud-seeding business had 120 employees and had been hired to seed clouds over 330 million acres (1,335,463.8 km²) in the western United States as well as parts of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
.
However, the American meteorological establishment opposed his practice, asserting his methods of cloud seeding were bogus and the weather could not be forecast for more than five days in the future. Krick decided to offer his long term forecasting to the Weather Bureau, but they too did not believe in his methods, so he started a private business. He successfully proved his basic premises, making a substantial profit from forecasts and weather making. Krick's practice caught the eye of many famous figures, and he was hired to forecast the weather for presidential inauguration
Presidential Inauguration
A Presidential Inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. To see detailed information on specific presidents, see the links below:* Brazilian presidential inauguration* Croatian presidential inauguration...
s and movie shoots. He garnered attention in 1957 when his prediction of sunny weather for President Eisenhower's second inauguration, made 17 days before the event, came true. Of his most notable achievements, Dr. Krick also made rain in Israel after a severe drought, made it stop hailing in Alberta, Canada, and made enough snow for the 1960 Winter Olympics
1960 Winter Olympics
The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...
to take place. ,
During the mid-sixties, Irving P. Krick & Associates operated a successful cloud seeding operation in the area around Calgary, Alberta. This utilized both aircraft and ground-based generators that pumped silver iodide into the atmosphere in an attempt to reduce the threat of hail damage. Ralph Langeman, Lynn Garrison
Lynn Garrison
Lynn Garrison is a Canadian pilot and political adviser. He was an RCAF fighter pilot from the 403 City of Calgary Squadron, commercial pilot, film producer, director and mercenary...
, and Stan McLeod, all ex-members of the RCAF, attending the University of Alberta, spent their summers flying hail suppression. A number of surplus Harvard aircraft were fitted with racks under each wing containing 32 railroad fuzees that were impregnated with silver iodide. These could be ignited individually or all at once, depending upon the threat. In coordination with ground units, the aircraft would lay a plume of silver iodide in front of approaching cumulo-nimbus clouds with noticeable effect. Large, active CBs were reduced to nothing. Heavy hail storms were reduced in intensity.
This effective program was funded by farmer contributions and government grants. The program was run each summer and did much to reduce crop damage by hail, otherwise the farm community would not have continued to finance the project.
In 1990 Krick sold his weather business to Strategic Weather Services, remaining with that company as chairman emeritus until his 1996 death from heart failure.
External links
- Irving P. Krick: Weather Fraud or Weather Genius, by Randy Cerveny and Ron Holle, Weatherwise Magazine, July-August 2008