President Wants $17 Million For Hurricane Forecasts
President Bush and his administration have asked Congress for $17 million to help improve hurricane forecasts. Originally slated for a mere $4 million, the Bush Administration has raised that number to $17 million in hopes of accelerating improvements to hurricane forecasting.
Some of their goals include improving hurricane track AND intensity forecast accuracy by twenty percent by 2013 and extending the lead time for hurricane forecast out to day 7 (instead of the current forecast out to day 5). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Hurricane Center also hope to take that money to get more observation data from the ocean and get better computer model guidance which all will help in getting better forecasts during hurricane season.
In case you are worried that $17 million is too much, think of this: The total budget of the government is about $3 TRILLION, so $17 MILLION is a very, very, very, very small amount. Also consider that more than fifty percent of the U.S. population lives near the coast…coastline that could get hit with a hurricane. Fifty percent of the U.S. population is 150 million…so spending this money for improved hurricane forecasts is a no brainer.
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