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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTop Commerce Department aides orchestrated NOAA's Hurricane Dorian statement, House Science Committe
Top Commerce Department aides orchestrated NOAAs Hurricane Dorian statement, House Science Committee chair says
By Jason Samenow and Andrew Freedman
October 10 at 4:13 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/10/10/top-commerce-department-aides-orchestrated-noaas-hurricane-dorian-statement-house-science-committee-chair-says/
"SNIP.....
A letter sent Thursday from the chair of the House Science Committee to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reveals that it was the Commerce Department, not the leadership of its National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that drafted a controversial NOAA statement on Sept. 6 that backed President Trumps false statement about the path of Hurricane Dorian. That statement contradicted NOAAs own meteorologists at a weather forecast office in Birmingham, Ala.
The unsigned statement has generated at least three investigations, including one by the Science Committee, another by NOAAs chief scientist, as well as the Commerce Departments inspector general. The new letter, from Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.), contains previously unknown information about how that statement which may have violated NOAAs scientific integrity policy was written.
The background
Trump wrongly tweeted that Alabama would most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated on Sept. 1 even when the state was not within the National Hurricane Centers cone of uncertainty the zone most likely to be affected. The National Weather Service forecast office in Birmingham, responding to an influx of calls from worried residents in the wake of the presidents tweet, issued a tweet of its own saying Dorian would not affect Alabama.
At the time, the NWSs forecast guidance showed only a very small risk (about 5 percent) of tropical-storm-force winds for a small portion of Alabama.
......SNIP"
applegrove
(118,749 posts)tanyev
(42,594 posts)Johnny2X2X
(19,095 posts)People's lives literally depend on being able to trust the NOAA's weather bulletins. Co-opting them for political reason is against the law for a reason.
UTUSN
(70,725 posts)malaise
(269,144 posts)Ross should resign over this.
Sadly it is not getting the coverage it deserves. This is both frightening and scandalous