Let's check the radar:
"Satellite woes could hamper storm forecasts; Officials decry mismanagement of US program" by John H. Cushman Jr. |
NEW YORK TIMES, October 27, 2012
WASHINGTON — The United States is facing a year or more without
crucial satellites that provide invaluable data for predicting storm
tracks, a result of years of mismanagement and underfunding, according
to several recent official reviews.
The looming gap in satellite coverage, which some experts view as
almost certain to occur within the next few years, could result in shaky
forecasts about storms like Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to hit
the Northeast seaboard early next week.
If the government can't keep us safe from storms they have failed entirely.
The endangered satellites fly pole-to-pole orbits and cross the
equator in the afternoon, scanning the whole planet one strip at a time.
Along with orbiters on other timetables, they are among the most
effective tools used to pin down the paths of major storms around five
days ahead.
All this week, forecasters have been relying on just such satellite
observations for almost all of the data needed to narrow down what were
at first widely divergent computer models of what Hurricane Sandy would
do next: explode against the coast, or veer away into the open ocean?
Oh, it may not even hit land?
Experiments show that without this kind of satellite data,
forecasters would have underestimated by half the massive snowfall that
hit Washington in a 2010 blizzard.
‘‘We cannot afford to lose any enhancement that allows us to
accurately forecast any weather event coming our way,’’ said Craig J.
Craft, commissioner of emergency management for Nassau County, Long
Island, where the great hurricane of 1938 hit without warning and killed
hundreds.
Experts have grown increasingly alarmed in the past two years because
the existing polar satellites are nearing or beyond their life
expectancies, and the launching of the next replacement, known as
JPSS-1, has slipped until early 2017, probably too late to avoid a gap
of at least a year.
Prodded by lawmakers and auditors, the program’s managers are just
beginning to think through their alternatives when the gap arrives, but
these are unlikely to avoid it.
The mismanagement of the $13 billion program, which goes back a
decade, was recently described as a ‘‘national embarrassment’’ by a top
official of the Commerce Department.
This summer, independent reviews by the Commerce inspector general,
the Government Accountability Office, and a blue-ribbon team of outside
experts questioned the government’s cost estimates for the program,
criticized the program’s managers for not pinning down the design, and
called for urgent remedies. The project is run by Commerce’s National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, and NASA....
The report projected a dismal decline in what has been among the crown jewels of modern earth and atmospheric science, a program that
has been troubled for many years....
Hey, look, we had to waste trillions on wars based on lies, the homeland tyranny arising from such, and bank bailouts so....
--more--"
Related:
Officials, residents gear up for Hurricane Sandy
Mass. takes steps to contend with Sandy
I'm sorry for not taking this storm too seriously, folks. Maybe I'll be caught unprepared and be forced to eat canned food in the dark but I'm simply all feared out. Better not mess with the football games or then I'll be really angry. If it snows maybe I'll become a believer.
Evening Update: Patrick declares state of emergency for Sandy
Next Day Update: Storm’s fury to peak in Mass. on Monday
If I have power I will blog.
Monday Morning Update: Schools close, region preps for Sandy’s expected fury
It hasn't even rained here yet.
Monday Evening Update: High winds, rain knock out power to more than 350,000 in Mass.
Been pretty mild here so far.
