Weather guys quit
This is one of those little stories that you sort of glance over while looking at the news and then you do a double take because it sounds kind of peculiar. When I saw “Nation’s Top Weather Officials Resign“, I thought they’d had enough of the wacky and wicked weather and the demands it places on them. Turns out, that’s not the reason.
One day after its hurricane forecasters complained of budget cuts, the head of the National Weather Service and his deputy announced they will retire next month.
David Johnson, the director, and John Jones, the deputy director, plan to bow out at the end of June, according to an internal memo they sent Friday to staff of the nation’s weather agency.
On Thursday, the AP reported that the director of the Miami-based National Hurricane Center, which is part of the weather service, believes the government is wasting millions of dollars on advertising while shortchanging his hurricane forecasters’ budget.
Advertising what? This is, after all, about the weather.
Bill Proenza, the center’s director, said in an interview that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent of the weather service, is spending up to $4 million to publicize its 200th anniversary while cutting $700,000 for hurricane research. A NOAA spokesman said the agency plans to spend $1.5 million.
Okay, I have two questions from that reporting. Which is it, $4 million or $1.5 million? And more to the point….why do the weather people need to publicize their anniversary?
Just asking. Reading news stories usually prompts questions.