 The last experimental flight was flown in 1971 , due to a lack of candidate storms and a changeover in NOAA 's fleet . More than a decade after the last modification experiment , Project Stormfury was officially canceled . Although a failure in its goal of reducing the destructiveness of hurricanes , Project Stormfury was not without merit . The observational data and storm lifecycle research generated by Stormfury helped improve meteorologists ' ability to forecast the movement and intensity of future hurricanes . 
