Earlier this week AP reported on how the aging QuikScat satellite used for predicting the intensity and path of hurricanes could fail at any time. Bill Proenza, director of the National Hurricane Center has been outspoken on this but was warned by superiors to stop commenting on it…
On Friday, Proenza was given a 3-page letter
from the acting head of the Weather Service, Mary Glackin. Proenza’s
recent statements “may have caused some unnecessary confusion about
NOAA’s ability to accurately predict tropical storms,” Glackin wrote.Glackin,
who visited Proenza’s office at the National Hurricane Center in Miami,
said that talking with other weather service managers would have given
Proenza “accurate factual data.”Proenza said Friday that he did
not believe that his comments caused confusion and that he had properly
talked with his superiors. The letter is an attempt to quiet his
comments on the satellite, he said. He said another superior had
previously warned him to stop making comments about QuikScat.“I’m not going to do anything different,” he said after getting the letter.(my emphasis)
Good for Mr Proenza