House Fiscal 11 Budget Proposal

[angelwing]

(Mods if this gets political please delete I am just passing on info)

*snip* WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As hurricane and tornado seasons approach, funding for the NWS will be nearly 30 percent less than the first half of 2011, if the Continuing Resolution proposed by the House majority is enacted. Congress's move will necessitate work furloughs and force rolling closures of Weather Warning Offices across the country. The effects will be felt in every aspect of daily life, including emergency management, television weather, and information used by our nation's citizens for transportation, commerce and agriculture. *snip*

Rest of this can be viewed at:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases ... 35429.html

[brunota2003]

Just to add onto this, here is the reasoning why the NWS built the office in Jackson, KY:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/jkl/?n=office_history

But hey...people aren't important anymore, right? The office in Morehead City, NC was originally built on the Outer Banks to serve Eastern NC due to their tropical weather... http://www.erh.noaa.gov/mhx/tour/OfficeTourHistory.php

[cycloneye]

An excerpt from the proposal opened my eyes. What,no more hurricane Hunters?

The National Hurricane Center is not immune to these cuts as furloughs and staffing cuts will add strain to the program. The Hurricane Hunter Jet, which provides lifesaving data and helps determine a hurricane's path, could also be eliminated.

[brunota2003]

I would hope any cuts related to that would be to the unmanned aircraft, and not the G-IV or P-3/C-130 aircraft. If it were to the main fleet, however, many research projects would be scrapped and track/intensity forecasts would be severely hampered.

[mf_dolphin]

The only jet I know of is the G-IV. The C-130s and P-3s are turbo-props not jets.

[brunota2003]

Yes, but I've heard civilians refer to them as "jets" before, so

[mf_dolphin]

LOL damn civilians. Oh wait! I'm a civilian now.....

[Metalicwx220]

LOL

[RL3AO]

Cutting the hurricane hunters would cost more then it saves. The amount of extra money spent in evacuations that wouldn't have with the hunters would far outweigh the cost of cutting them by mid-August.

[brunota2003]

Well, I sent an e-mail to one of my local news (YNN) stations as a suggestion to air something about this potential budget cut. YNN has substations over a good portion of New York, so hopefully they'll decide to do a piece on it, and am about to e-mail my Congress members in Kentucky.

[angelwing]

Great idea! Think I will email KYW, they'll get it out

[Ad Novoxium]

I would hope any cuts related to that would be to the unmanned aircraft, and not the G-IV or P-3/C-130 aircraft. If it were to the main fleet, however, many research projects would be scrapped and track/intensity forecasts would be severely hampered.

What I'd imagine nobody reading the reports (and possibly thinking of cutting the main fleet) realize is that a satellite image only tells a portion of the story (when Marco was around in 08, from a satellite perspective, it might as well have not existed because the presentation betrayed the actual intensity). Satellites do badly in terms of smaller storms and all it takes for a small storm to become horrid is for it to make a direct hit or a near-direct hit on a major city (Tracy or Karl, anyone?).

[brunota2003]

I would hope any cuts related to that would be to the unmanned aircraft, and not the G-IV or P-3/C-130 aircraft. If it were to the main fleet, however, many research projects would be scrapped and track/intensity forecasts would be severely hampered.

What I'd imagine nobody reading the reports (and possibly thinking of cutting the main fleet) realize is that a satellite image only tells a portion of the story (when Marco was around in 08, from a satellite perspective, it might as well have not existed because the presentation betrayed the actual intensity). Satellites do badly in terms of smaller storms and all it takes for a small storm to become horrid is for it to make a direct hit or a near-direct hit on a major city (Tracy or Karl, anyone?).

Yes, that is very true, and a point I made when I wrote one of my Congressmen. I have seen storms that Sat estimates thought had 40 mph winds, and once the HH's flew into the storm, they found it had winds of 60+ mph. I also asked if Congress was ready to take the flak they'd receive if this bill passes, and the weather services miss a major disaster directly due to a cut in their funding.

And I believe it is the G-IV jet that will be grounded if this bill is passed, according to a blog written by Dan Koch.

Critical upper air, buoy, and surface weather observations may be temporarily or permanently discontinued. Preventative maintenance and repair of malfunctioning equipment will likely be suspended. In addition, the Hurricane Hunter Jet, which provides lifesaving data and helps determine a hurricaneʼs path, is expected to be grounded during the upcoming tropical weather season.

And, from him, here is info on the rolling office closures:

The rolling closures will affect multiple offices at a time, with closures lasting for 27 consecutive days. For NWS Little Rock, critical weather forecasts, watches, advisories, and warnings will have to be provided by NWS offices in adjacent states. All 24 employees will be furloughed without pay during the shutdown period(s).

Link:
http://wxmandan.blogspot.com/2011/02/ma ... r-nws.html

[brunota2003]

I e-mailed him asking for clarification (and also if he knew if the AF Reserve HH's are being impacted as well), he replied, rather quickly:

I know the G-IV flight is been targeted for grounding; I don't know specifically about the P-3 Orion.

As for the USAF WC-130 aircraft, I believe the funding comes from another source, so I am unable to confirm whether or not those flights will be affected.

Dan

[Stephanie]

That's insane.

[vbhoutex]

I am copying this over to the Talkin' Tropics forum also. Everyone needs to get on board with this and get the word out that funding has to continue for NOAA/NWS/NHC and for that matter needs to be increased.

[RL3AO]

Cutting weather soundings to once every day or even two day could have a disastrous impact on forecasting. Both severe weather and tropical weather. If you don't know where that upper ridge will be, it makes it almost impossible to forecast when that hurricane will curve.