Bill Read to retire as director of the National Hurricane Center
Bill Read, the director of the National Hurricane Center (NHC) since 2008, announced Saturday that he will be retiring on June 1, ending four and one-half years as the nation's most visible meteorologist. Read took the post of NHC director after Bill Proenza stepped down following a stormy six-month tenure where much of staff revolted against him. In the wake of the turmoil stirred up by Proenza, Read brought stability to the Hurricane Center. Conversations I've had with staff at NHC indicated that Read was an excellent manager of people, and was well-respected among his employees. His management ability, easy-going style, and solid communication skills made Read an excellent choice for director of NHC, and he will be missed. “I will have been in charge just shy of four and a half years on June 1,” Read wrote in a letter to hurricane center staff . “I had no idea I would ever be considered for such an honor. It’s been quite a ride and I’m blessed to hit the exit ramp in my career after working with you all.”
Previously, Read served as director of Houston's National Weather Service office, a post he took in 1992. Read was called in to work at NHC three times between 1992 and 2005 to help out with hurricane emergencies. Prior to his job in Houston, Read served in the U.S. Navy, where his duties included an assignment as an on-board meteorologist with the Hurricane Hunters. He began his career in 1977 with the National Weather Service test and evaluation division in Sterling, VA.
Figure 1. Bill Read at the National Hurricane Center forecast desk. Image credit: NOAA.
National Hurricane Center Directors:
Gordon Dunn, 1965 - 1967
Robert Simpson, 1967 - 1973
Neil Frank, 1973 - 1987
Bob Sheets, 1987 - 1995
Robert Burpee, 1995 - 1997
Jerry Jarrell, 1998 - 2000
Max Mayfield, 2000 - 2007
Bill Proenza, January - July, 2007
Ed Rappaport (interim), July 2007 - January 2008
Bill Read, 2008 - 2012
Who will the next director of NHC be?
The retirement of Bill Read means that a search for NHC's eleventh director must be complete before hurricane season arrives. While I haven't had time to ask them if they are interested, here are four candidates who would make excellent directors of NHC:
Dr. Ed Rappaport, Deputy Director of NHC since 2000. Dr. Rappaport served as interim director of NHC during the hurricane season of 2007, and did a great job. He did not want to be the permanent director, though, and it is uncertain if would want the position now. In a Q and A interview posted on the NHC web site last year, Dr. Rappaport said, "The responsibilities are immense and, to date, the circumstances have not been right for me to be the director full time. But I will consider it the next time the opportunity arises. For such a critical position, one which has such important responsibilities, great visibility, many challenges and the long periods of travel, everything has to be aligned right within your professional and personal life to make the commitment that is required to do the job well." I have to believe that if he wants the job, the next director of NHC will be Ed Rappaport.
James Franklin, Branch Chief of the NHC Hurricane Specialists Unit. Since 2008, Franklin has been responsible for the quality of hurricane forecasts coming out of NHC, a tough, high-pressure job that he has handled remarkably well. Before arriving at NHC, Mr. Franklin worked as a hurricane research scientist for NOAA's Hurricane Research Division.
Dr. Chris Landsea, NHC Science and Operations Officer since 2005. Between 1995 - 2004, Dr. Landsea worked as a hurricane research scientist for NOAA's Hurricane Research Division. Dr. Landsea has testified in front of Congress several times on the issue of hurricanes and global warming, and has excellent public communication skills.
Dr. Rick Knabb, tropical weather expert for the Weather Channel. Dr. Knabb served as a senior hurricane specialist at NHC from 2005 - 2008, then took a position as deputy director and director of operations of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) and NWS Forecast Office in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2010, he joined the Weather Channel.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 — Blog Index
thats what you think..complete opposite.
POOF
Dr. Rick Knabb does not impress me. I'm sure he knows more than he lets on but his appearances on The Weather Channel seem weak.
Yep. I watched part of the beginning of the game while eating at the Ground Round. Never did find out how it ended.
I am not a fan, but the on going hysteria about the logo is comical. I do believe everyone (like the legislature) has better things to do then makes laws about the logo.
Whatever it is, it's pretty scary!
yup
My God!!!! That's a fine looking man!!!!!
all i see is a tree. nothing special
Ignorance/Ignoring, can sometimes be the bliss of the abyss into which all learning is suffocated by the yearning to be recognised.
..with a cigar".
: )
January 16, 2012 5:14 PM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexicans are rushing aid to Tarahumara communities in the remote northern mountains after a local official said dozens of the Indians had killed themselves because they couldn't feed their children due to severe cold weather.
The Tarahumara have long been a symbol of fierce pride, strength and self-reliance in Mexico. They are known for running multiday marathon races across the mountains as part of traditional celebrations.
The idea that such a proud people might be losing their spirit stung Mexicans into a flurry of drives to collect food and clothing to the Indians.
Health care and emergency workers in the region said Monday that the mass-suicide rumors are untrue, but that reports of famine are real.
several trips, in fact
I'm pretty sure Grothar planted that tree...
Its true. Take a look up at " Bristle cone pines," which grow in the North Americas. They have been found to live over 6,500 years.
is this the result of:
A. home schooling
B. a nun with a ruler
C. .....
enough with that picture, there are children present............
a whole gaggle of nuns with rulers...
That can not be true, Earth and the universe are only about 6000 years old.............
And on the topic of other fables, from your view over across the pond, are the Europeans as goofy about the 2012 "end times" thing, or is that an "Americas" centric thing?
"The "King Clone" creosote ring is another plant of the oldest living organisms on Earth. It has been alive 11,700 years, in the central Mojave Desert near present day Lucerne Valley, California. This single clonal colony plant of Larrea tridentata reaches up to 67 feet (20 m) in diameter, with an average diameter of 45 feet (14 m).[7][8][9] King Clone was identified and the 11,700 years old age, determined by Radiocarbon dating, was first documented by Frank Vasek, a professor at the University of California, Riverside.[9][10] It is within the Creosote Rings Preserve of the Lucerne Valley and Johnson Valley.[9]"
"Prometheus" was even older when it was chopped down in 1964 by a grad student. 4,862 years at a minimum.
The circumstances in which the grad student chopped the tree down are controversial.
very nice....very, very nice...
So, nuns and rulers makes for a mentality of charity and service...........
home schooling based on the limited example on the blog seems to make for no charity at all................
I bet them nuns made sure you were properly socialized?
Well certainly the tree did not commit suicide. It just wasn't in its roots to do so. ;-)
Eruption continues unabated at Congo’s Nyamulagira Volcano Posted on January 16, 2012
January 16, 2012 – CONGO – The eruption at Nyamuragira volcano (DR Congo) continues with lava fountains 50-150 m high, ejections of incandescent bombs reaching up to 600 m, and the emission of an aa lava flow from the second (eastern) vent. Nyamuragira has been described as Africa’s most active volcano and has erupted over 40 times since 1885. The latest eruption began in November of 2011. –Volcano Discovery
Posted on January 16, 2012
January 16, 2012 – ITALY – The uninhabited island, a protected nature reserve lying between the coast of Tuscany and Corsica, has been invaded by thousands of black rats. The rodents are believed to have arrived on the four-square-mile island as stowaways on boats a few years ago but have now multiplied. Authorities are planning to use aircraft to bombard the island with poison pellets in a bid to tackle the infestation. The plan is to drop around 26 tons of pellets on the island at the end of this month. Biologists estimate that there is one rat for every square yard of the island and say they pose a grave threat to the ecology of the nature reserve, which is part of a scattered archipelago of islands off Tuscany. Some conservationists are worried, however, that the pellets could accidentally land in the sea, killing fish and other marine life. They say they could also pose a danger to the 1,000 tourists who are allowed to visit the nature reserve each year, under a tightly-controlled permit system. But the authorities have dismissed those concerns. “No one wants to poison the island,” Franca Zanichelli, the director of the national park authority, told Corriere della Sera. “The project will be managed by experts. The poison pellets are similar to those used everywhere to kill rats.” The pellets will have to be dropped from the air because the island is too rugged for them to be distributed by land. Similar operations on the nearby island of Giannutri and in Sardinia had been a success, Ms Zanichelli said. –Telegraph
Ok, I got standards, ............ I am leaving........... :)
ya know....I really hate to see all the old gals dyin' off...they were certainly a powerful influence...
Somehow there is a connection there to this Wikipedia article: "List of long-living organisms".
"If the mortality rate of a species does not increase after maturity, the species does not age and is said to be biologically immortal. There are many examples of plants and animals for which the mortality rate actually decreases with age, for all or part of the life cycle.[citation needed] Coral colonies and aspen trees are the clearest examples.[citation needed] Some large trees may routinely grow in size for decades, while their mortality rates decrease.[citation needed] Some sources say that sharks, too, grow larger in size while their mortality rate decreases, for long periods of their lives.[citation needed]
"If the mortality rate remains constant, the rate determines the mean lifespan. The lifespan can be long or short, even though the species technically "does not age". There are many examples of species for which scientists have not detected an increase in mortality rate after maturity.[citation needed] An alternative explanation for this phenomenon may be that the mean lifespan of the species is so long that the modern scientific study of longevity and senescence has not yet matured enough itself to measure longevity in the species."
First on the tree age thing:-
"A specimen of this species nicknamed "Methuselah" located in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of the White Mountains near Bishop, California is 4,842 years old."
Link:-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_longaeva
As the tree is on the American mainland and I assume that American experts have done the reports on it then I can not comment any further. I did hear a report of some trees that were up to 6,500 years old but some of the locations are kept secret to avoid the threats of human vandalism etc.
Over here in Europe nobody I have met recently in either the UK or Spain seems to even be aware of the impending end of the world allegedly stemming from a distant South American prophecy. There appears to be no corresponding evidence to the end being nigh over here, the main topic of interest {or rather lack of it financially,} is the impending demise of the Euro, a sort of European version of the Dollar which is a trifle stretched at the moment.
I will keep you informed if any dark horsemen, heavenly trumpets or outbreaks of grim reapers are seen west of the Urals.
Your kidding, right?
Excellent!! Your pretty funny...now...Go to you're room!!!!
Viewing: 101 - 151
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 — Blog Index