Hurricane center chief reassigned

Associated Press and Yahoo News ^ | 9 July 2007 20 minutes ago

[bd476]

Hurricane center chief reassigned

Bill Proenza, director of the National Hurricane Center, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press Friday, July 6, 2007 at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Proenza was temporarily reassigned Monday, July 9, 2007 amid calls from about half his staff that he be ousted for undermining the public's confidence in the center's forecasts. Director Bill Proenza will be replaced by Deputy Director Ed Rappaport, said center spokesman Dennis Feltgen. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

MIAMI - The director of the National Hurricane Center was temporarily reassigned Monday, four days after many of the center's employees called for his removal because of his comments about an aging weather satellite. A

More than 20 of Bill Proenza's nearly 50 staff members signed a statement last week urging federal officials to dismiss him. They said Proenza undermined the public's confidence in the center by exaggerating the forecasting problems scientists would face if the satellite failed.

Proenza insisted he was only trying to ensure that his forecasters had the best tools and adequate support.

He was to be replaced by Deputy Director Ed Rappaport, center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said.

Rappaport declined to comment on his appointment.

Anson Franklin, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the center, said Proenza is still a NOAA employee, but he would not provide details about his status, citing privacy laws.

Proenza assumed the job in January, replacing longtime director Max Mayfield

[Arm_Bears]

Where does this guy stand on “man-made” global warming?

That would explain a lot.

[Unicorn]

Somebody got paid.

[bd476]

The story continues...

Reference: Hurricane Center Chief: I Won't Leave

[bd476]

Arm_Bears wrote: "Where does this guy stand on “man-made” global warming? That would explain a lot."

That's a good point.

[bd476]

Unicorn wrote: "Somebody got paid."

That's possible.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Our lives are at stake here in Florida and NOAA’s Hurricane Center plays politics. I sure find this less than helpful.

[bd476]

lexington minuteman 1775 wrote: Our lives are at stake here in Florida and NOAA’s Hurricane Center plays politics. I sure find this less than helpful."

It certainly is less than helpful.

[Dick Vomer]

well there's the difference between Bush and Reagan.

I'm sure there are just a sh#t load of government cushy jobs for meteorolgy majors coming out of college.

This guy didn't want money spent on a multi million dollar party for the department...made some comment about the aging weather satellite and the worker monkees had a fit.

[bd476]

Dick Vomer wrote: "well there's the difference between Bush and Reagan. I'm sure there are just a sh#t load of government cushy jobs for meteorology majors coming out of college. This guy didn't want money spent on a multi million dollar party for the department...made some comment about the aging weather satellite and the worker monkees had a fit."

I think that sums it up pretty well. Taxpayers in hurricane territory will still have to pay for this kind of nonsense.

[capt. norm]

Mutiny!

[bd476]

Good photo, Capt. Norm! And mutiny sure is what it sounds like.

[Strategerist]

That would explain a lot.

ABSOLUTELY nothing about this controversy has anything remotely to do with global warming.

[Strategerist]

I'm sure there are just a sh#t load of government cushy jobs for meteorolgy majors coming out of college.

Meteorology is one of those professions where there are more meteorologists graduated than there are jobs for them. There really aren't that many met jobs. You'll see a lot of guys with meteorology degrees working outside their fields completely.

National Weather service jobs are the most prestigious, difficult to get, and pay more than jobs in private meteorology (a place like AccuWeather pays very low wages to guys just out of college because, again, of the oversupply of met majors) but they're not making huge amounts of money.

I've noticed on FR people have this odd idea that scientists in government and academia are making these outrageously huge salaries - certainly compared to their education costs and time and work in school, they are not. They're making far less than the average lawyer, or your local orthodontist.

[Between the Lines]

This guy didn't want money spent on a multi million dollar party for the department...made some comment about the aging weather satellite and the worker monkees had a fit.

From what I understand this guy wants a new weather satellite, but the workers expect budget cuts and job cuts because of the expense. So they want him out and want to keep the old satellite that has passed it's life expectancy. They value job security over the publics security.

[Strategerist]

The satellite in question, QUIKSCAT, is fairly cool, but completely irrelevant to actual hurricanes about to hit the US - it’s useful for telling if some cloud mass off Africa is a TD or something, but, for example, 3 days from Katrina hitting Louisiana, there was no useful information provided by QUIKSCAT that made any difference to anything.

All it does is give an estimation of wind speeds over water by bouncing radar off the waves to estimate their height - however, it doesn’t work in areas where it is raining - thus, you can’t use it to measure the wind speeds of a hurricane, and to locate hurricanes it’s far easier to use a geostationary camera satellite like GOES.

Proenza (who has never been an operational hurricane forecaster) was strangely obsessively harping about the importance of this satellite, and confusing the media and public.

[Godebert]

The director of the National Hurricane Center was temporarily reassigned Monday....

Reassigned? Who reassigned him? Who is his boss?

[Strategerist]

The National Hurricane Center is under the National Weather Service which is under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

[Old Professer]

“One toke over the line, sweet Jesus, one toke over the line
Sittin’ downtown in a railway station, one toke over the line
Waitin’ for the train that goes home, sweet Mary
Hoping that the train is on time
Sittin’ downtown in a railway station, one toke over the line”

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Well now,,,Dat Didn't Take Long !!...;0)