Jessie McDonald

Just a gorgeous storm. My little phone camera can't do it justice! #SDwx #TORUS22

@MorganSDollar @nshinwin @waypointastra @sentdefender 1. You're right, they do have two nanosatellites that were launched using spacex... a company that gets around 3 billion/yr in government contracts (NOAA yearly budget is 6.6 billion) Also. From MyRadar website:

@jmeso212 @nshinwin @waypointastra @sentdefender Ask Grok My Radar has been using their own satellites for years!

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been notified by the Trump Administration to prepare to lose another 1,000 staff in the next month, in addition to the roughly 1,300 that resigned and were laid off in recent weeks, representing a 20% reduction in its nearly 13,000 workforce. Managers at NOAA have been told to draw up proposals for layoffs and reorganization by Tuesday, which many scientists are warning will severely limit operations at NOAA agencies critical to national security like the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Hurricane Center (NHC), who have already lost hundreds of meteorologists and forecasters since January, a worrying prospect as Atlantic Hurricane Season approaches for the Southeastern United States.

@MorganSDollar @waypointastra @sentdefender And no, people would die because hurricanes can change track at the last minute that requires extensive knowledge to forecast. Heat and flooding also are incredibly deadly and people need warning days in advance to prepare. A few minutes delay in a tornado warning is deadly

@jmeso212 @waypointastra @sentdefender Those same people who you say "would die" are the same ones who won't get out of the way of a Cat 5 with 10 days warning. Government is not the answer to every problem.

@MorganSDollar @waypointastra @sentdefender Government is not the answer to every problem, 100% agree! But when a product can't ethically be sold, but is rather a service, then no private company will be able to, or want to, provide that service.

@MorganSDollar @nshinwin @waypointastra @sentdefender No weather app "has their own satellite." Do you know how much that costs? If the NOAA/NWS is not important, then why did the company that owns one of the most popular weather apps release a statement defending NOAA? Part of the article below.

@jmeso212 @nshinwin @waypointastra @sentdefender Speaking of ignorance, you do realize most of the good, accurate, and popular apps like My Radar have their own satellites and forecasters? They do also get information from NOAA and the NWS, but government is not the end all be all answer to everything!

@MorganSDollar @waypointastra @sentdefender Something else to consider: NOAA makes up .01% of the US yearly budget. If you're right and NOAA deserves to be cut, we will save approximately 10% of that .01%. If I'm right but NOAA is cut anyway, 100s of ppl or more could die each year. What are you willing to risk?

@MorganSDollar @waypointastra @sentdefender With what facts are you determining that?

@nshinwin @MorganSDollar @waypointastra @sentdefender Because I will lose hope if I assume that every ignorant person doesn't care what the truth is. Some of them truly don't know and are open to learning. Life is hard and complicated. We have to be louder than those who have been misled.

@jmeso212 @MorganSDollar @waypointastra @sentdefender Why even bother at this point to make people understand how critical public infrastructure is in some aspects of their life. The ignorance in this country will be it's doom especially when the ignorant are cheering the loudest at the dumbest policy choices. Catastrophic SMH!

@MorganSDollar @waypointastra @sentdefender Incredibly *efficient

@MorganSDollar @waypointastra @sentdefender Easy solutions are great, but NOAA, NWS, and the NHC are already understaffed and incredibly inefficient. If you support DOGE's efforts, then you don't want them to go after these organizations. Source: most of my colleagues/friends are NWS forecasters or NOAA feds

@SkilosRising @sentdefender Lack of observations = worse model forecasts, which means that more human expertise will be required to produce good forecasts. The point is that firing workers will nilly based on arbitrary government status is NOT going to achieve your goal of efficiency.

@SkilosRising @sentdefender Also these models are mathematical projections into the future of the current state of the atmosphere, which is impossible to truly know. We get close using observations. But now some of those important observations (weather balloons) have stopped due to NWS understaffing

Perceptually uniform colormaps are incredibly important, and not just to those with color vision deficiency! They are also scientifically accurate (and generally just better on the brain)

@JJMelkeWX Congratulations on your poster award! It was well deserved

I am proud to say that I presented my NOAA Hollings research this week at the 31st Conference on Severe Local Storms. I had a blast learning, reconnecting with friends, and meeting new ones along the way! #31SLS

This was an awesome way to round off my PhD! Thank you to everyone that made SLS as awesome as it was :)

@Rhapsodyinbrown Same! I don't get in until 8:30pm 🥲

Seeing everyone head to SLS this morning while I have a later flight has me like:

"Go to hell" is basic, but "I hope your computing center goes offline the Thursday before a conference and doesn't come back for a week" is smart. It's real. It could happen to you. In related news if one of my SLS slides looks like it's missing a plot, that's why.

@tornadotiff_ thank you! 🫶

Very excited to announce that I have been awarded an NRC postdoc position at NSSL, and tomorrow is my first day! I am so very grateful for all of the amazing people who have helped me get to this point. 10 year old me would be so proud if she knew❤️

@Meteodan Thank you Dan! :)

@jmeso212 Congratulations! That’s a great achievement !