NWS facing budget cuts

[Joshua Nall]

But cut funding somewhere else. There are probably hundreds of things more deserving of losing funding than NOAA.

Completely agree with that statement.
The problem however is much more serious than a few illegals picking lettuce.
estimates range from 7 to 20 million illegals draining programs that are already in the red, particularly education and welfare programs.

 

[Andrew Herron]

I wonder if the AccuWeather lobby got to them?

 

[joel ewing]

Gentlemen, please tread lightly, as many of us will agree I'm sure.....it doesn't take too much political discussion to go nuclear in here. A lot of us have seen it get sickly ugly in a nanosecond. And seeing that we're all storm-deprived....well....you get the idea.
So, on a lighter note...did'ya hear the one about Obama walking into a bar with a monkey on his shoulder, and.......

 

[Tim Shriver]

At least they got a couple of new birds launched before the cuts.

They might also be having to balance, to some degree, the choice of
having it come out of the satellite budget or the budgets of the new radar
systems they have coming down the pipe or further reducing staffing more
then they need to.

They might be taking this cut now in order to help secure the new radars they
wish to deploy within the next 9 years or so. DP and PA.

Tim

 

[Paul Hadfield]

Or they could just wait a year and allocate resources that will be freed up from the dismantling of the Shuttle program

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080402-AP-nasa.html

 

[Steve Dedman]

Well, I contacted my Senators and told them what I think. Problem solved.

 

[rdale]

They might be taking this cut now in order to help secure the new radars they
wish to deploy within the next 9 years or so. DP and PA.

This proposal has nothing to do with DP & PA. Are you sure they offered it up? I thought this came from the border state senators?

 

[Mike Smith]

I wonder if the AccuWeather lobby got to them?

Huh?

Where do you get the idea AccuWeather/WeatherData wants the NWS budget cut?

Even during the debate on the Santorum bill (which is ancient history) they (now we) didn't want the budget cut and said so many times.

AccuWeather is sponsoring the Wichita AMS chapter lunch on November 10 at the Petroleum Club. The topic is dual polarization radar. After, a tour of our brand-new offices. So, have lunch on AccuWeather!

Mike

 

[rdale]

AccuWeather is sponsoring the Wichita AMS chapter lunch on November 10 at the Petroleum Club.

Oh great... Now AccuWeather is buying out the AMS, and even the oil industry too? Next you'll be proposing to raise the gas tax I suppose...

 

[Mike Smith]

Oh great... Now AccuWeather is buying out the AMS, and even the oil industry too? Next you'll be proposing to raise the gas tax I suppose...

Touche! Actually, we chose the Petroleum Club because they have great food and they are two floors above us in the Bank of America Building.

 

[Andrew Herron]

Just saying, with a diminished NWS capability, it could create an intentional vacuum that would have to be filled by the private sector. Just an idea, not really based on reality.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Huh?

Where do you get the idea AccuWeather/WeatherData wants the NWS budget cut?

Wouldn't normal profit motive drive AccuWeather to want this? I think if you asked most businesses if they'd prefer for their competition to have less funds to compete with, they'd say yes. NWS is a competing entity and AccuWeather has been treating it as so for some time. Don't make me dig out the ol' hurricane product they posted a few years back to their website that claimed that NWS's targeting probability predictions were useless and that AccuWeather's were much more accurate.

 

[Patrick Marsh]

Wouldn't normal profit motive drive AccuWeather to want this? I think if you asked most businesses if they'd prefer for their competition to have less funds to compete with, they'd say yes. NWS is a competing entity and AccuWeather has been treating it as so for some time. Don't make me dig out the ol' hurricane product they posted a few years back to their website that claimed that NWS's targeting probability predictions were useless and that AccuWeather's were much more accurate.

The problem is the NWS is the primary provider of a lot of the weather information that the private sector uses. If the NWS is forced to cut these programs, then the private sector will be affected as well.

Also, bandwidth in the NWS is at a premium. If the budget gets cut, then the NWS won't be able to afford the bandwidth to disseminate the products that they still keep. This means that model runs, level 2 radar data, etc won't make it to the private sector. Thus, private sector companies would take a huge hit in order to survive because they'll have to invest in their own infrastructure.

NWS Budget Cuts of the magnitude would decimate the weather industry almost completely - both private and public.

 

[Mike Smith]

Wouldn't normal profit motive drive AccuWeather to want this? I think if you asked most businesses if they'd prefer for their competition to have less funds to compete with, they'd say yes. NWS is a competing entity and AccuWeather has been treating it as so for some time. Don't make me dig out the ol' hurricane product they posted a few years back to their website that claimed that NWS's targeting probability predictions were useless and that AccuWeather's were much more accurate.

AccuWeather's position has always been that the NWS should provide meteorological infrastructure and provide high quality storm warnings for the public-at-large. Yes, there have been times in the past when AccuWeather has advocated turning over non-storm related forecasting ("mostly sunny tomorrow, light winds, high 67°") over to the private sector.

And, yes, we have competitors and we market our products aggressively.

That said, AccuWeather (and WeatherData, before we were part of AccuWeather) has never advocated a cut in the NWS's budget. We fully recognize the crucial role of the NWS. I believe our relations with the NWS are excellent.

I like to use Greensburg as an example. Several of the storm spotters were using our Storm Hawks to send instantaneous real-time reports of the tornado. We know the NWS saw at least some of those reports (a NWS meteorologist told me). Our technology provided data to the NWS and to our TV client and its audience.

WeatherData warned the Union Pacific which kept its trains out of the Greensburg area.

The NWS DDC issued an excellent and timely warning for the public.

Together, we saved 200+ lives. There is much more that unifies us than divides us.

Here is the thread about my talk in Greensburg on this subject a week from tonight: http://stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?p=243420#post243420

Please come. I believe you'll be very pleased at the way I discuss how we all work together to save lives.

Mike

 

[Tim Shriver]

This proposal has nothing to do with DP & PA. Are you sure they offered it up? I thought this came from the border state senators?

Sometimes you have to look down the road and judge what you will give now
in order to save something for later.

I know they are doing their best to keep the current budget issues from
delaying the development and installation of the DP and down the road the
PA systems. I trust my source.... and the math.

Tim