Ohio politician shares weather conspiracy theory amid hurricanes

An Ohio politician promoted a conspiracy theory about government agencies controlling the weather on X .

Ohio Rep. Jennifer Gross , a Republican whose district includes West Chester Township, Ross Township, Morgan Township and Fairfield, shared a Substack article that linked a national weather radar system to Hurricane Milton , a Category 5 storm expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday. The article suggested that transmissions from the federally operated Next Generation Weather Radar system , or Nexrad, can steer the direction of storms and are manipulating Milton to keep it in Florida.

Nexrad uses a network of 160 high-resolution Doppler weather radars to detect hazardous and normal weather, and is used to determine the best routes for aircrafts, according to the National Weather Service, which operates it. It's also managed by the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Air Force.

Gross promoted the article and its author on X, writing, "Best reporter. Great Read for naysayers. Worth your time."

Nexrad detects weather by emitting a burst of energy, the National Weather Service website states . If that energy hits an object, like a rain drop or a bird, it gets scattered, and computers analyze the strength of the energy that gets sent back to the radar to determine weather patterns.

The article Gross shared said blue flashes on a radar map indicated Nexrad's high-energy emissions, and said those emissions could be powerful enough to steer a hurricane.

"This is completely false," said Jana Houser, an associate professor at The Ohio State University's Department of Geography who specializes in radar studies. "The idea of being able to steer an entity that has trillions of tons of liquid water in it with a relatively low-powered instrument is just physically impossible."

The article claimed blue bursts on the radar map indicate high-energy transmissions powerful enough to push a hurricane. Actually, the blue bursts indicate radar points that are receiving energy, says Houser.

"What you see on a radar image is energy that is returned to a radar from something in the atmosphere that has basically intercepted that energy and scattered it back toward the radar," Houser said, such as a bird, raindrop or hail stone. "And these returns are incredibly low-power."

Radar maps have been referenced in several weather-based conspiracy theories, including one recently debunked by Science Feedback , a non-partisan science fact-checking nonprofit.

Other conspiracy theories about government-controlled weather appeared on social media after Hurricane Helene caused destruction in the Southeast. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X on Oct. 3: "Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done."

The American Red Cross and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis have said said spreading misinformation hurts relief efforts.

Gross is running for reelection against Democrat Landon Meador.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio politician shares weather conspiracy theory amid hurricanes