The Weather of 9/11: Hurricane Erin, the Smoke Plume and an Empty Sky — 25 Years Later

Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, Meteorology Matters looks back at the extraordinary weather story unfolding alongside one of the darkest days in American history.

That morning, New York City sat beneath an unusually clear post-frontal sky while Hurricane Erin churned hundreds of miles offshore. After the World Trade Center attacks, satellite imagery captured something remarkable: the enormous circulation of Erin over the Atlantic and the smoke and dust plume streaming away from lower Manhattan in the same view.

This special episode reconstructs the meteorology of September 11th, Erin’s position and intensity, the atmospheric pattern that helped carry the plume southward, what NASA satellites and astronauts aboard the International Space Station observed, and how the unprecedented shutdown of U.S. airspace created a rare opportunity for scientists to study aircraft contrails and their possible effects on temperature.

We also examine how meteorologists and NOAA supported the response and recovery at Ground Zero through specialized forecasts, plume modeling, remote sensing and atmospheric monitoring.

The weather did not cause the events of September 11, but it shaped what millions of people saw, what satellites recorded, where smoke and debris traveled, and even the scientific questions that emerged in the days that followed.

A special 25th-anniversary episode of Meteorology Matters.

Keywords: September 11 weather, Hurricane Erin, 9/11 meteorology, World Trade Center smoke plume, NASA satellite imagery, Hurricane Erin 2001, 9/11 contrails, Meteorology Matters

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