Forecasters to Lose Hurricane Satellite Data at the Worst Possible Time

During a month, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its national hurricane center (NHC) will lose access to the critical satellite data, which allows meteorologists to see the storm. This marks the latest blow to the forecasting skills of the agency because the hurricane season continues.

On Wednesday, June 25, the Navy Digital Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) in a motion that spoils meteorologists and government officials on Tuesday declared Due to the risk of “significant” cybersem, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) in June 30 closed the data processing system. Defense department (DOD), DMSP air satellites have provided forecasts with critical storm data since the 1960s.

The decision was angry with meteorologists and government officials, because all the DMSP data will be able to access information and significantly worsen the forecast accuracy at the beginning of the hurricane season. After the pressure from NOAA and NASA officials, FNMOC has postponed the closure to Noaa, 31 July 31 news Shared on Monday June 30.

“June 27 Friday, [the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC)] NASA and NASA continues to process and distribute DMSP information and distribute DSMS and distributing DSMS in July 31, “NASA’s Earth Sciences Department will be sent to the Department of Earth and NASA not later than 31 July.”

This will give NOAA and NHC a few weeks to prepare a loss, but it is not clear what it looks like. Currently, a new defense department in October, no plan to restore the flow of DMSP data to NOAA, when the air satellite operations began, NOAA report. NOAA clearly kept change of change without influence There are many other sources of hurricane information that allow the quality of hurricane and forecast this season. Gizmodo, NHC, DOD, US Air Force and US Navy, but did not receive a comment time.

The main purpose of the DMSP air satellites is to support military operations, but meteorologists have used the general weather forecast and more than 50 years have used data for storm tracking. These satellites draw the hurricane microwave images using a special touch microwave image image or a handy tool called SSMIS. This tool works like 3D X-rays through clouds to detect tropical storms and domestic structures of hurricane. To observe the eyes and eyelids to the eye and the eyelid, it produces both strong rains and strong winds – the strengthening or weakening of meteorologists. This information warns great changes such as fast intensification hours before visible in other data streams. Thus, these satellites are important to understand the potential impact of the storm and give time to warn responsibilities.

“Of course, we are one of the more important information sources, because it provides a unique database”, tell Scientific America. “It’s really way to get a sense of organizational structure of a core of a cyclone who really see through the clouds.”

It is notoriously difficult to predict fast reinforcement, but in advance because it increases the effects of a hurricane before its time prematurely. An example of this is Hurricane Milton, who fell to Florida on October 9, 2024. This storm within 24 hours reinforced 1 category, the western coast of the state, to a category of 5th.

Losing access to DMSP data will predict rapid strengthening for NHC meteorologists and is not the first storm tracking tool they lost this year. At the beginning of this month, it became clear Noaa would not use saildrones in this hurricane season. These drone floats directly to collect real-time data that use to predict ships, strengths and ways. Like DMSP satellites, saildrones are especially useful to stain early signs of fast intensification. NOAA has relying on them in the last four years, but this year, the company based on the NOAA contract, “said the Agency’s spokesman Keely Belva told Gizmodo in an e-mail.

All this adds that NOAA has officially started officially on June 1 and in preparation for the Hurricane Season, which ended on November 30. Agency predicts that this season will be activeIt is expected to cause hurricanes with six to 10 storms. They can be “great” hurricanes – 4, 4 or 5, 5 or 5) from three to five. Since the President Donald Trump is the post, there is noaa faced Sweeping staff cut, freezes and travel and training restrictions. The peeling of the main storm tracking tools will add to this tension.

Upheaval, NOAA representatives tell They are ready. Other experts are not satisfied. “This decision will kill people”, hurricane researcher Jimmy Yunge He wrote in a message expressing the loss of NOAA Satellite and Product Operations on the loss of DMSP data. “If it is not billions, millions and an event were in addition to an event.”