AI6YR Ben3d ago

KXAN Meteorologist Jim Spencer:

"I'll keep my thoughts on that press conference to myself, but my phone is blowing up with friends asking me if federal cuts and hiring freezes contributed to this disaster to begin with. Currently at our local National Weather Service office, due to early retirement packages to reduce its budget/personnel and a hiring freeze there are: *Warning and Coordination Meteorologist position open (yes they coordinate Warnings) *2 open meteorologists positions (yes they are on call 24(7) *Hydrologist position open (yes, they project floods) *Electronic Tech position open *Manager position open So, | don’t know — you tell me. Look up Josh Hinkle and David Barer's investigation on our website. They've done fantastic, rapid work and are only just beginning."

#disaster #TXwx

Show threadJenny3d ago
@ai6yr The Eyewall team made a compelling case of why this particular tragedy seems unrelated to current cuts/understaffing, but warned that future events *will* be worse due to cuts. Also, the area in question had opportunities to install flash flood sirens in the past, but deemed them too expensive at the time (not due to cuts, just miserly greed). It’s hard to draw conclusions at this time, but hopefully any investigation will reveal answers and lead to better safety measures. It’s so sad. 😞
Show threadJenny

@ai6yr
Here are The Eyewall posts that helped me understand more about the forecasting part of this tragedy, in case others are interested:

Yesterday’s Eyewall:
https://theeyewall.com/making-sense-of-the-weather-that-led-to-a-horrible-texas-flooding-tragedy-plus-tropical-storm-chantal/

Today’s Eyewall:
https://theeyewall.com/chantal-makes-landfall-near-myrtle-beach-and-now-moving-inland-as-a-rainmaker/

Making sense of the weather that led to a horrible Texas flooding tragedy, plus Tropical Storm Chantal

In brief: Invest 92L became Tropical Depression 3 yesterday and is now Tropical Storm Chantal. It’s en route to the Carolinas. We take a detailed look at what occurred in Texas Thursday night…

The Eyewall
Jul 6 at 4:03pmWeb
Show threadJeri Dansky2d ago

@tiamat271 @ai6yr The Eyewall is so good! I subscribe to their newsletter and I’ve been quoting them a lot the last couple days.

And they have a Mastodon account: @theeyewallwx

Show threadJenny2d ago
@jeridansky @ai6yr @theeyewallwx oh thank you for the reminder! I also follow them here, but completely forgot to tag them lol
Show threadJeri Dansky2d ago
@tiamat271 @ai6yr @theeyewallwx And The Eyewall just moved to Substack, so I just unsubscribed. For ethical reasons I don't subscribe to anything on Substack, and I'm really disappointed to see this move.