Only a Federal Bureaucrat intent on expanding his power base would do what NOAA is doing to the National Hurricane Center.
I guess they don\’t like the attention the Hurricane Center gets during the season so they cut the number of planned flights by 50%, cut their budget so they are seriously understaffed, and try to change the name to NOAA Hurricane Center, all the while planning to spend $2,000,000 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of NOAA even though it\’s only 40 or 50 years old.
Makes sense to me! Of course I\’m only concerned because I live in S. Fl.!
These flights may provide scientific information, but how much more can anyone learn about storms that have been around for centuries? Radar is now sophisticated enough to track tropical depressions and provide sufficient advance warning of an advancing storm. These flights and the information they gather don\’t seem to add much if any value to the public. The fact is, when a named strom is headed your way, you do what you can to protect your property and think real hard about getting out of Dodge before it hits. Once the category exceeds 2, it\’s a moot point. Let\’s stop wasting money on these flights.
Temblor: you of all people know the drill in S. Fla. Unless these flights can alter the course and/or strength of the storms, they aren\’t doing a thing for your well being.
Bill, you misunderstand the purpose of the flights. It is crucial that certain information be gathered that allows NHC to predict the path of the storm and it\’s strength.
Satellites, and radar give it\’s current location, and some information about conditions around the storm. So far the only way to gather the detailed information necessary to make accurate predictions is by way of the flights through and around the storm.
NHC\’s greatest value is it\’s ability to pretty accurately predict where the storm is going and likely conditions when it hits. They have increased this ability to an amazing degree, but it still depends on these flights.
And S. Florida and most metropolitan areas are impossible to evacuate. The drill now is coastal and low lying areas get evactuation orders, the rest of us stay put. Far safer in your house than trapped in gridlock on the open road, as happened with Katrina.
I just had to comment on your comment \”you misunderstand the purpose of the flights. It is crucial that certain information be gathered that allows NHC to predict the path of the storm and it\’s strength.\” Having lived in Florida all my life I have found during hurricane season to not believe the path that they predict because it is always wrong.
Au Contraire, but the last few years they have been much more accurate. Remember, they are trying to predict the path of a weather system. There is always uncertainty which is why they show \”cones of probability\”. But the storms of 04 and 05 stayed well within the first two cones of probability.
They will never be able to predict the paths exactly, the atmosphere is far to uncertain, to much turbulence, to many things going on.
The key is to make the predictions more accurate, and they have done an amazing job of that.
Reduce the hurricane hunter flights and you\’ll see the probabilites become much more inefficient.
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Only a Federal Bureaucrat intent on expanding his power base would do what NOAA is doing to the National Hurricane Center.
I guess they don\’t like the attention the Hurricane Center gets during the season so they cut the number of planned flights by 50%, cut their budget so they are seriously understaffed, and try to change the name to NOAA Hurricane Center, all the while planning to spend $2,000,000 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of NOAA even though it\’s only 40 or 50 years old.
Makes sense to me! Of course I\’m only concerned because I live in S. Fl.!
These flights may provide scientific information, but how much more can anyone learn about storms that have been around for centuries? Radar is now sophisticated enough to track tropical depressions and provide sufficient advance warning of an advancing storm. These flights and the information they gather don\’t seem to add much if any value to the public. The fact is, when a named strom is headed your way, you do what you can to protect your property and think real hard about getting out of Dodge before it hits. Once the category exceeds 2, it\’s a moot point. Let\’s stop wasting money on these flights.
Temblor: you of all people know the drill in S. Fla. Unless these flights can alter the course and/or strength of the storms, they aren\’t doing a thing for your well being.
Bill, you misunderstand the purpose of the flights. It is crucial that certain information be gathered that allows NHC to predict the path of the storm and it\’s strength.
Satellites, and radar give it\’s current location, and some information about conditions around the storm. So far the only way to gather the detailed information necessary to make accurate predictions is by way of the flights through and around the storm.
NHC\’s greatest value is it\’s ability to pretty accurately predict where the storm is going and likely conditions when it hits. They have increased this ability to an amazing degree, but it still depends on these flights.
And S. Florida and most metropolitan areas are impossible to evacuate. The drill now is coastal and low lying areas get evactuation orders, the rest of us stay put. Far safer in your house than trapped in gridlock on the open road, as happened with Katrina.
I just had to comment on your comment \”you misunderstand the purpose of the flights. It is crucial that certain information be gathered that allows NHC to predict the path of the storm and it\’s strength.\” Having lived in Florida all my life I have found during hurricane season to not believe the path that they predict because it is always wrong.
Really? Always?
Pretty strong comment.
Au Contraire, but the last few years they have been much more accurate. Remember, they are trying to predict the path of a weather system. There is always uncertainty which is why they show \”cones of probability\”. But the storms of 04 and 05 stayed well within the first two cones of probability.
They will never be able to predict the paths exactly, the atmosphere is far to uncertain, to much turbulence, to many things going on.
The key is to make the predictions more accurate, and they have done an amazing job of that.
Reduce the hurricane hunter flights and you\’ll see the probabilites become much more inefficient.