Replies

You said it yourself, at the last minute the storm changed course.
Now how can NOAA or any other weather Forecaster predict that?? That is akin to trying to predict tomorrow's weather or global warming.
You can have all of the most sophisticated weather models, computers, etc. and yet Mother nature can still throw in a monkey wretch and all of that data is suddenly worthless.
I think of the primitive weather gear and forecasting we had at D-Day and the gutsy call that Group Captain Stagg made to Eisenhower for the D-Day forecast which thank god turned out to right.
All of weather forecasting is at best a great educated guess and to try and blame the Bush brothers, NOOA and the National Weather Service for what this hurricane did is absolutely without cause.
If you live in Florida then every time there is a hurricane forecast take precautionary measures don't assume. like Punta Gorda, that just because you haven't had a hurricane hit in 45 years you won't be hit.

"....You said it yourself, at the last minute the storm changed course.
Now how can NOAA or any other weather Forecaster predict that?? That is akin to trying to predict tomorrow's weather or global warming.
You can have all of the most sophisticated weather models,"

Captain, Thursday afternoon my wife was watching the forecast on TV. She commented that the hurricane was going to be pushed to the right by the cold front that, at that time was in the panhandle. Later Thursday evening, a TV weather person had just finished their forecast on the late news when the anchor person asked for a replay of the video of the storm movement. The anchor's question was "the hurricane looks like it was turning to the east". The response was it is common for the strom to 'jog'. At that time it had just passed over Cuba. On to Friday. All day Friday, we were told by the media that ALL FOUR models from the National Hurricane Center had the storm sitting in Tampa Bay at 8:00PM. If YOU were a local TV weather person, would you perdict anything other then what NOAA was telling you was going 'for sure' to happen?? Well at 8 PM in the Tampa/St. Pete area we had 5 to 10 MPH winds and a trace of rain; while some of our 'brothers and sisters' in central Florida and east coast Florida lay dead; and many more were homeless. If my wife (a nurse) can see on Thursday that it would turn, and a TV anchor person can detect a turn from a space video, then what excuse does NOAA and the National Hurricane Center's highly educated scientists have for such a forecasting blunder? I don't blame ANY politician. I blame specifically the staff and management of NOAA for shoddy workmanship; and they should be called on the 'carpet' for it!