This is especially frustrating because the only reason we know the wind speed is because NOAA's Hurricane Hunters literally fly into the hurricane and collect vital data. They fly in and out of the storm over and over in 8 hour shifts.
This brave team flies two identical Lockheed P3s called Kermit and Miss Piggy.
You can see the dangling ornaments in the videos to determine which plane they are in.
And when I say they fly into the hurricane, I mean they fly *into* the hurricane.
Here they are in the eye of Milton.
And here they are in the eye of Irma.
As you may notice, this flight was in Kermit.
So the next time you see live data about a hurricane's wind speed and pressure, just remember how that was collected and don't be a giant turd about it.
And please vote because conservatives want to kill NOAA.
This is serious But I also just want everyone to know that Kermit and Miss Piggy have retro-style nose artwork of the characters:
I was so enamored with the ornaments. I didn't think to check for nose art. Thanks for adding this!
could be provided commercially
Privatization is laughable, because every single MAGA proposal I've seen about privatization centers around selling NOAA data for a profit.
The organization & planes would still exist, but instead of providing the data as a free public service, the jackasses want to paywall it.
The thing about privatization is that not only will they paywall it in some way, they will only do so in locations that are profitable.
So, hurricanes, because that's what this post is about. A hurricane won't look at a population map and go "cool, this area here has so and so many people living in it while that one only has a handful so I'll appear in area 1". It'll appear where it does regardless. A commercial hurricane information business however will go "this area has 20000 customers while that one only has 200, we'll focus on area one because we'll make money there while area 2 will cost more than we'll make". Because that's what private entities do. They enter a market and focus on the profitable areas while leaving the rest without - which usually means the country still needs to provide that service, only with less resources.
If it's owned by the country it works for the people, for the taxpayers. If it's owned by a private entity it works for the stockholders. And to borrow from and paraphrase the americans: We? The people.
