Airbusts
 

As far as I know, I've never seen footage of an airburst nuke detonation. Would it still kick up the signature mushroom cloud?

The PCs in my campaign are nearing Gora Kalwaria and I want to have some NPCs there describe having watched and/or felt the airbursts (or their immediate aftermath) over Warsaw from a distance- as the crow flies- of about 35km or so.

What would the concussion, heat, wind, etc. from the blasts be like at that distance? Would someone be permanently blinded from looking directly at the blast from that distance?

I want my narrative to be plausible, if not completely realistic.

Also, if any of you reading this contributed to the Siege of Warsaw thread, what was that British 6x6 amphib truck called again?

Thanks guys.

Airbursts always produce a mushroom cloud; check the movie Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie: many of the detonations in the old days of above ground tests were air bursts, as well as the two combat drops at Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1850 ft. AGL) The Warsaw detonations over the city center would've likely produced three fireballs that merged into one. Also, the first atomic artillery shell (the 280-mm Atomic Annie) was an air burst (15 KT).

Yes, at that distance, someone would've been blinded permanently if they'd looked at the blast at the moment of detonation. Once that flash is gone, then it's safe to look, if the footage of observers of those above-ground tests is any clue. You'd have to be at least 20-30 miles, or more, to look at a blast and not risk losing one's sight.

The truck is the Alvis Stalwart.

Another interesting thing about nuclear blasts (or even large FAE or thermobaric blasts) is that they produce two shock waves. One is from the initial burst, when the air at ground zero is blown out; the other happens about a second later, as all that air that was blown out rushes back in to the low pressure area caused by the first shock wave.

the Wargame
 

please check the BBC made "The Wargame" -it was so realistic that the British authorities hasd severe issues about allowing its broadcast .It portrays a nuclear attack on Britain in meticulous detail -including technical descriptions and aftermath results -imagery is very disturbing though .

Highly recommended!

I've annotated it. Although I must recognize that this kind of material always makes my hair stand on end...

If you're concerned you might be overdoing the damage 30-35 km from Warsaw, there's an easy solution.
Many, many tactical nukes were used during the war in many many places. Just because Warsaw received three warheads in 1997 doesn't mean the countryside within 50km wasn't pockmarked with small nukes over the preceeding and subsequent months, or even years.
Just take a look at the encounter tables and you'll note that "crater" can be found almost anywhere that's not currently being fought over or has a large military unit camped nearby.

Mmmm...I would say that a good part of the footages about nuclear explosions you've seen are from airburst detonations, without you haven't noriced it. Just try a search in youtube with the magical words airburst and nuclear. You will see it!

Wow. Now I feel like an ignoramus.:o I always thought those early nuke tests were conducted just a few meters above ground. Technically, sure, that would make them airbursts, but I thought "modern" airbursts detonated at a significantly higher altitude above ground. Like maybe 500-2000m or more, even.

I guess I just thought that there was more of a difference between the type of strike at Hiroshima and what the T2K stuff was calling "airbursts".

Anyway, thanks for setting me straight. That's what I count on you guys for.

Thanks for the reminder Paul!

True. And it says in the Black Madonna module that when NATO forces withdrew from Czechostowa they engaged in their own little piece of scorched earth policy by deploying a number of "backpack" nuclear demolition charges. They may well have deployed similar weapons in other parts of Poland.

One of the entries in the rumour tables in the Black Madonna module suggests that one of those charges failed to detonate and was never recovered by NATO forces. In my campaign that rumour was accurate and the nuke ended up in the mad Major's treasure hoard in the catacombs beneath the Jazna Gora. It was that nuke that Major Po's team used to obliterate Warsaw Pact Reserve Front HQ at Lublin, thereby cementing the NATO-WarPac stalemate in Poland. For me that infiltration mission involved the most intense and enjoyable gaming sessions of the entire campaign.

If you want to get an idea of what a ground burst can do, look at Meteor Crater in Arizona (also called Barringer Crater). That meteor hit with an estimated blast strength of 10 Mt.

The Gulf of Mexico is believed by many to be the crater the "Dinosaur Killer" meteor impact left behind.

From my understanding it is not believed to be the entire gulf, but it was 180 km wide.

http://www.athenapub.com/maymcrx.gif

Ah, I stand corrected. Isn't there a big bay in the north of Canada that is thought to be a meteor impact crater too?