NOAA draws backlash after disavowing Weather Service tweet that refuted Trump

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) statement affirming President Trump’s remarks over the threat of Hurricane Dorian to Alabama is drawing sharp backlash from meteorologists and former officials.

Several former officials have accused the administration of caving to political pressure after NOAA disavowed a days-old tweet from the National Weather Service (NWS) that refuted Trump’s claim about the storm’s path.

Trump spent several days defending himself while criticizing pushback from the media and meteorologists who questioned his claim while noting that numerous projections showed the storm tracking farther east.{mosads}

Former NOAA Chief Operating Officer David Titley blasted the NOAA statement, saying it represented “perhaps the darkest day ever for @noaa leadership.”

“Don’t know how they will ever look their workforce in the eye again. Moral cowardice,” he tweeted.

Monica Medina, who worked as NOAA’s general counsel, tweeted Friday, “As a former @NOAA leader I can say two things with certainty. No NOAA Administrator I worked for would have done this. And I would have quit if I had been directed to agree to let this BS go out.”

As a former @NOAA leader I can say two things with certainty. No NOAA Administrator I worked for would have done this. And I would have quit if I had been directed to agree to let this BS go out. https://t.co/oyyr2IlK8q

— Monica Medina (@MonicaMedinaDC) September 6, 2019

Dan Sobien, head of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, which represents thousands of workers under NOAA, said federal workers were “shocked, stunned and irate” with NOAA siding with Trump.

Sobien told The Daily Beast in an interview that “never ever before has their management thrown [employees] under the bus like this.”

The statement also drew scrutiny from meteorologists who said the initial tweet from the National Weather Service in Alabama was accurate.

“The tweet from NWS Birmingham was spot on and accurate,” Birmingham-based meteorologist James Spann Jr. tweeted. “If they are coming after them, they might as well come after me. How in the world has it come to this?”

The tweet from NWS Birmingham was spot on and accurate. If they are coming after them, they might as well come after me. How in the world has it come to this? https://t.co/73376v7Zpj

— James Spann (@spann) September 6, 2019

Meteorologist Ryan Maue, meanwhile, accused NOAA of “throwing your ‘Alabama’ NWS office under the bus,” adding that there was “nothing wrong” with the Birmingham NWS’s tweet.

Whoa! Nothing like throwing your “Alabama” NWS office under the bus. pic.twitter.com/Fx0oAdWlh7

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) September 6, 2019

Al Roker, weather anchor for NBC’s “Today Show,” offered more restrained criticism, tweeting, “The @nwsand @NOAA has always been above politics and about presenting fact and information. Whether it’s a hurricane forecast or reports based on science about #ClimateChange America and the world have always trusted these organizations and nothing should be done to change that.”

The @nws and @NOAA has always been above politics and about presenting fact and information. Whether it’s a hurricane forecast or reports based on science about #ClimateChange America and the world have always trusted these organizations and nothing should be done to change that

— Al Roker (@alroker) September 7, 2019