The world of government information continues to be in a state of topsy-turviness. Last month, on a Tuesday, NOAA suddenly announced that on the following Monday, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) would “discontinue ingest, processing and distribution of all DMSP data no later than June 30, 2025.” This was set to greatly impact both NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and the monitoring of sea ice, as these programs would no longer receive real-time microwave data collected aboard three weather satellites jointly run by NOAA and the U.S. Department of Defense. There was quite an uproar in the scientific community, especially considering it was at the beginning of the hurricane season. A week later, the agency offered a temporary extension, saying that the data would remain available until July 31.
Well today, the Defense department has just as suddenly announced that it will cancel plans to discontinue a program that collects and makes accessible these critical public satellite data (yes you read that right, they’re canceling plans to discontinue a program!!). Now, these data will remain available “until the sensors stop working or until the program formally ends in September 2026.” For more context, see Michael Lowry’s extremely informative Eye on the Tropics substack (and by all means, subscribe!)
In a Reversal, Key Hurricane-Monitoring Data Will Stay Online. Sachi Kitajima Mulkey, NY Times, July 30, 2025.
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