Critical hurricane forecast tool abruptly terminated

got to be a reason they terminated it. Doubt it was just an arbitrary decision.

 

I'm thinking duplication of services OR they are putting out something better to replace it. NOAA has already been showing a new cone image. Time will tell, but I doubt anyone will be left without the ability to see what they need to know.

Not tied to NOAA, I also use a satellite app that allows me to go darn near all the way around the globe. I've used it lately to keep an eye on Saharan dust storms coming off the coast of Africa. On the Gulf Coast, we have been lucky so far to get so little of it. The dust off the Saharan desert can mess with your sinuses.

 

Well the article actually says because a security concern.

 

Trump himself will now be in charge of making the forecast cone images.

 

I read elsewhere this is not their only source of microwave imagining.

Wait to hear more.

 

Who needs all that data when a sharpie can provide us the track of every storm

 

The rest of the story:

MSN

Extended to the end of July.

NOAA is partnering on satellites that are not ready for prime time or have not yet been launched.

The weather forecasters won't be left in the lurch after all. There has been a plan all along. Imagine that.

 

Where's the rest of the story? It just says extended to end of July and then NOAA will be in the same position again of not having access to the data.

The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration announced Monday morning it will delay cutting off meteorological satellite data until the end of July, a month later than initially planned.

Despite the extension, NOAA said the move ultimately will stop the flow of crucial data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which has helped meteorologists monitor and forecast hurricanes.

 

Pentagon will no longer share satellite data that tracks hurricanes overnight

 

Anyone who lives in Florida and is anxiously checking NOAA NHC updates every 3 hours during hurricane season can't like the sound of this. This is going to make it much more difficult to convince my wife that we don't need to put up our storm shutters yet.

In a Substack post, James Franklin, retired chief of the National Hurricane Center’s Hurricane Specialist Unit, said there is “no practical substitute” for hurricane forecasters to use. He predicted loss of the data would have cascading impacts on track forecasts for tropical storms, including delayed updates on tropical cyclone strengthening and “cases of hurried and abrupt changes to NHC track and intensity forecasts shortly after first-light visible imagery arrives (the ‘sunrise surprise’).”

 

So from the article…
“NOAA spokeswoman Kim Doster said the microwave data “is a single dataset in a robust suite of hurricane forecasting and modeling tools” that includes satellite data in infrared and visible light and observations from ground-based weather stations, buoys, and devices known as radiosondes that scan atmospheric conditions from weather balloons.

There is also an instrument aboard NOAA’s own Joint Polar Satellite System that gathers microwave data — the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder.

“NOAA’s data sources are fully capable of providing a complete suite of cutting-edge data and models that ensure the gold-standard weather forecasting the American people deserve,” Doster said in a statement.”

Here are some thoughts. Seems like NOAA the ability to still collect microwave data.

Also the DOD isn’t going to share it “publicly” any more. I don’t think NOAA is considered a public group so why wouldn’t they still get access?
Still not sure how much impact this will be overall.

Still seems cloudy…

 

On that point people shouldn’t be waiting for 3 hour updates.
just go back and look the last few years the numbers of changes with 3 hour updates. The cone (that most follow and shouldn’t really do) wobbles around like mad on these frequent updates.

 

"The DMSP is a partnership that NOAA has with the Defense Department to design, build, launch and maintain multiple satellites that monitor meteorological and oceanographic conditions, according to NOAA's website."

Typical government being slow at the switch to replace and too soon to end full access.

Bottom line, an extension was granted. My guess is you'll see more extensions until the satellites are in orbit. Time will tell, but no one yet has produced a timeline so I'm unconcerned at this time.

Clearly no one was left in the lurch with no knowledge plans for replacement, hence the partnership for the replacement of satellite plans. That much is known and settled.

 

So if NOAA has it's own microwave data, this seems like a nothing burger.

 

In S FL this weekend, what should have been blue skies were completely grey from the saharan dust.

 

That's kind of the point. Forecasting is difficult and imperfect as is. We should be discussing how that will be improved - not degrading the accuracy of those forecasts.

 

It says right there in the article that meteorologists will be left in the lurch. Bottom line is that we'll have less reliable forecasts this hurricane season.

 

That's your interpretation.

 

Not interpretation. Basic reading comprehension. Maybe if I bold it for you?

Despite the extension, NOAA said the move ultimately will stop the flow of crucial data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which has helped meteorologists monitor and forecast hurricanes.