An aging U.S. weather satellite crucial to accurate predictions on the intensity and path of hurricanes could fail at any moment and plans to launch a replacement have been pushed back seven years to 2016 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher said the failure of the QuikSCAT satellite could bring more uncertainty to forecasts and widen the areas that are placed under hurricane watches and warnings. In the letter to a Florida congressman, Lautenbacher blamed the delays on technical and budget problems.

Last week, the Associated Press reported that the cuts affecting weather satellites are part of other cuts intended to scale back efforts to measure global warming from space.

Bill Proenza, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said authorities “may have to err on the side of caution” in future forecasts if QuikSCAT fails before it is replaced. “We have to err on the side of the protection of life. And that’s how we would handle it.” After making the comment, Proenza received a three-page letter from the acting head of the National Weather Service, chastising him for his remarks. Proenza said the letter was an attempt to quiet his public comments on the QuikSCAT satellite, adding “I’m not going to do anything different.”

Hurricane Satellite Could Fail At Any Time (AP 6/14/07)

June 19, 2007