# Kerry Emanuel on Reddit (u/kerryemanuel)

Part of Scientists on Reddit, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-07. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/scientists-on-reddit/kerry-emanuel

Kerry Emanuel: MIT atmospheric scientist, hurricane researcher.

- Reddit account: [u/kerryemanuel](https://www.reddit.com/user/kerryemanuel/) (AMA only)
- How we know it's theirs: [The 2014 r/science AMA, posted from this account](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1xsqyn/)
- Where they post, in the records we retrieved: r/science (51), r/askscience (7)
- Known activity in the posts we found: 2014 to 2016
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Emanuel

## Moments

### u/kerryemanuel in r/science, Feb 13, 2014 · Explains things

Replying to a redditor:

> Is there a limit on how large hurricanes can get on earth? Is it different on other planets? What is the general idea by which you calculate speed limits?

> Yes. There is a theoretical limit which is around 1000 km for the storms outer dimension. There is also a limit on wind speed which in the present climate, in the hottest parts of the tropical oceans, is about 190 MPH. This limit comes from equating dissipation of wind energy to its thermodynamic generation in hurricanes.

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1xsqyn/comment/cfej3dp/ · 114 points as of Nov 7, 2026