Government to keep sharing key satellite data for hurricane forecasting despite planned cutoff
By ALEXA ST JOHN Associated Press The U S Department of Defense will now continue sharing key material collected by three weather satellites that help forecasters track hurricanes Meteorologists and scientists had warned of risks to accurate and timely storm tracking without the information when personnel made plans to stop providing it beyond the end of this month Related Articles Search for answers after Texas deadly floods brings lawmakers to devastated Hill Country Hulk Hogan s cause of death was a heart attack biological examiner says Fewer Americans see discrimination as anti-DEI push gains traction poll shows American Eagle s good jeans ads with Sydney Sweeney spark a debate on race and beauty standards With growing urgency more US Jews urge Israel to ensure ample food deliveries to Gaza Defense authorities had planned to cut off distribution of microwave records from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Effort jointly run with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by the end of June At the time NOAA stated the cutoff was mentioned to mitigate a major cybersecurity menace while the U S Navy declared the effort didn t meet information device modernization requirements The discontinuation was postponed for one month In a notice on Wednesday functionaries reported there would be no interruption at all The Navy stated in a comment that its Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center had planned to phase out the records as part of modernization efforts But after feedback from regime partners functionaries located a way to meet modernization goals while keeping the content flowing until the sensor fails or the scheme formally ends in September The information is used by scientists researchers and forecasters including meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center It gives crucial information about storms that can t be gleaned from conventional visible or infrared satellites This satellite figures enables hurricane forecasters and their computer models to peer inside a hurricane s structure offering vital insight reported Union of Concerned Scientists science fellow Marc Alessi Make no mistake this information not only improves hurricane forecasting accuracy but could make the difference between whether communities evacuate or not ahead of an approaching hurricane Other microwave content would have been available with this cutoff but only about half as much experts revealed increasing the chance that forecasters would miss certain aspects of storms A spokesperson for NOAA declared the agency will continue to have access to the material for the operation s lifespan and noted that it is just one input set in a robust suite of hurricane forecasting and modeling tools that the National Weather Arrangement has at its disposal to ensure the gold-standard weather forecasting the American people deserve The news had initially raised scientific eyebrows amid hurricane season which usually peaks from mid-August to mid-October Context change worsened by the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal have driven storms to become more frequent severe and deadly The last-minute reprieve has hurricane forecasters breathing a sigh of relief explained Jeff Masters a meteorologist for Yale Conditions Connections Loss of the microwave satellite content would have made it far more likely that timely warnings of dangerous and potentially deadly episodes of hurricane rapid intensification events being delayed by up to hours He added the restoration of the evidence is also good news for scientists tracking Arctic sea ice loss Images and microwave satellite evidence can estimate how much of the ocean is covered by ice according to NOAA NOAA and the NWS have been the subject of several cuts throughout President Donald Trump s second term Alexa St John is an Associated Press surroundings reporter Follow her on X alexa stjohn Reach her at ast john ap org Read more of AP s circumstances coverage at http www apnews com climate-and-environment The Associated Press weather and environmental coverage receives financial assistance from multiple private foundations AP is solely responsible for all content Find AP s standards for working with philanthropies a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP org
