Could the United States drop a nuclear bomb on a hurricane to stop the storm in its tracks?

The answer to this question, which has somehow been around since the 1960s, is a no, according to the National Hurricane Center's science and operations officer.

Chris Landsea, who is also a former research meteorologist with NOAA, posted a lengthy response to the nuclear question on the Hurricane Research Division's FAQ page back in 2012 during Hurricane Sandy.

Live Science reports the theory is centered around the idea that the energy released from a nuclear bomb above the eye of a hurricane could heat the cooler air and disrupt its convection current.

"Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems," he said.

"Needless to say, this is not a good idea."

Landsea compares a nuclear warhead to a hurricane, by writing that a fully-developed hurricane releases about 50 terawatts of heat energy at any moment.

"The heat release (from a hurricane) is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes," he said. "According to the 1993 World Almanac, the entire human race used energy at a rate of 1013 watts in 1990, a rate less than 20% of the power of a hurricane."

The science publication explains that "bombing a hurricane might be about as effective as trying to stop a speeding Buick with a feather." This question is sure to come up in 2017, as southeastern Texas reels from Hurricane Harvey making landfall in the past 10 days and as Hurricane Irma barrels toward the Caribbean.

As of Tuesday morning, Sept. 5 Irma was classified as the most dangerous category of hurricanes when it was ranked a category 5 storm. Irma now has the nearly unimaginable capability of producing winds as strong as 175 mph.

Harvey's strongest sustained winds were said to have measured at around 140 mph.

A forecast track from the National Hurricane Center shows that in the next three days Irma could put many Caribbean islands in its path. MLive meteorologist Mark Torregrossa compared the two storms in a Tuesday morning update on the category 5 hurricane.

"Currently, there are two differences between Irma and Harvey. Irma looks like it has the potential for higher winds, and more wind damage," he reports. "However, Irma looks like it may keep moving, which would not bring the catastrophic rainfall amounts that Harvey did."