Important hurricane-monitoring satellites are set to become non-functional just a few weeks before the start of the Atlantic storm season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration blames the media for causing alarm over the outage, even as they assure that essential information will continue to be collected.
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which is co-owned by NOAA and the Department of Defense and tasked with gathering essential environmental and weather information, will be discontinued on Monday due to a series of federal budget reductions affecting the administration, as stated in an announcement made Wednesday by the agency.
"The changes to the service and its discontinuation will be permanent," officials declared in the statement, offering no explanation for why the service was being terminated or what might replace it.
Nevertheless, a representative from NOAA swiftly attributed the criticism directed at scientists and the potential instigation of public anger due to news reports about the service alteration, to the journalists involved. They later specified that an important sensor on a different satellite would continue to offer critical data through microwaves.
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"The DMSP forms part of an extensive suite of hurricane forecasting and modeling tools within the NWS portfolio, alongside microwave sensing data from the newly launched WSF-M satellite. This new satellite was intended as a successor to the DMSP program," Kim Doster explained to The Post on Friday.
The regular procedure for rotating and replacing data used to be unremarkable in previous administrations, but now the media is bent on critiquing the excellent work carried out daily by NOAA and its committed scientific team.
Even with the brief clarification, specialists continue to worry that insufficient information might impede attempts to monitor hurricanes, identify alterations in storm formation, and precisely forecast a storm’s trajectory in real-time.
Forecasters depend Using polar-orbiting satellites fitted with microwave sensors to monitor wind speeds and gather additional information related to strengthening tropical storms and hurricanes—especially during nighttime when alternative observational techniques are less effective.
"This represents a major breakthrough for hurricane predictions, greatly benefiting the tens of millions of Americans residing in vulnerable coastal regions," stated Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist based in South Florida. shared with the New York Times.
“The nightmare scenario is going to bed with a tropical storm and waking up to a hurricane,” he added, explaining that soon-to-be suspended satellite streams are key to preventing a jarring “sunrise surprise.”
Microwave observations also enable meteorologists to pinpoint a storm's center, but Lowry cautioned that an error of just a few miles could lead to "significant consequences."
Although military satellites will stay in orbit, the federal government will cease processing their data.
“Andy Hazelton, a hurricane modeling specialist from the University of Miami, stated to the outlet, ‘We do not wish to possess lesser data without cause,’”
We currently do not receive as much microwave data as we would prefer for operational use.
The announcement regarding the program's suspension was made merely forty-eight hours afterward. Tropical Storm Andrea The initial named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season developed over the central Atlantic Ocean early Tuesday morning.
The hurricane season generally extends until the end of November.
The White House and the Department of Defense did not promptly reply to The Post’s request for their input.