SARASOTA- The President of the National Weather Service Employee Organization is speaking out. Dan Sobien is calling a Friday tweet from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, quote, “utterly disgusting and disingenuous. NOAA disavowed a tweet from the National Weather Service’s Birmingham office contradicting the president, who repeatedly claimed hurricane Dorian could likely hit Alabama. Sobien, who’s in the Tampa Bay area this weekend, spoke to SNN. He says NOAA management has undermined the hard work The National Weather Service and says politics has no place in weather forecasting.
“It’s oil and water,” said Sobien. “They do not mix. The whole purpose, the whole mission of the National Weather Service is to save people’s lives. We really don’t want to mess with that. You don’t want people questioning whether or not they can trust the hurricane forecast, and it’s happening now. I’m seeing that on social media.”
SNN Meteorologist Dan Henry asked if Sobien has ever seen anything like this in his 25 years at the National Weather Service, and Sobien says this is unprecedented.