 |
| A Doppler radar installation, probably monitoring that severe thunderstorm in the background. These radars are crucial for monitoring severe weather, but a conspiracy group wants to attack and destroy Doppler radar because they are somehow a "weather weapon." |
As if NOAA and the National Weather Service didn't have enough problems with Trump cutbacks on staff and services that are harming both forecast accuracy and research, there's terrorists now, too.
An anti-government group called Veterans on Patrol have somehow decided that Doppler radar is now somehow a "weather weapon."
Doppler radar installations are those big white balls on top of towers - there's one in Colchester, Vermont for reference - that track precipitation, winds and other features in the atmosphere.
Doppler radar is fantastic for determining the type of precipitation that's falling in various locations. Also the intensity, which is super handy if you're worried about flooding. It also detects wind patterns, including dangerous ones that might, for example, indicate a tornado is about to form.
The group has thus far not come up with an explanation as to how Doppler radar is a "weather weapon." Veterans on Patrol said the Doppler sites are controlled by the military and are somehow "poisoning our skies."
Responding to media reports on the threats, Veterans on Patrol founder Michael "Lewis Arthur" Meyer said the group is moving forward with plans to target the radars
"'We intend to take as many NexRads offline as possible once our attack simulations have prepared us,' Meyer wrote. He said he had 'full authority' to do so. Meet said the 'attack simulations" would go until June but potentially i not August, without giving details about the operation."
Though there has been no attacks yet, and not much in the way of suspicious activity at the Doppler radar sites, officials are taking no chances.
"Out of a abundance of caution, we are asking all regions to notify their field offices and radar technicians to maintain increased vigilance when at or near radar sites," NOAA's central office warned leadership in a May 12 memo.
National Weather Service staff were told to notify law enforcement of any suspicious or weird behavior.
The threats from Veterans on Patrol come at an already bad time for NOAA and the National Weather Service, as the agency has been battered by Trump administration layoffs, buyouts and steep cutbacks that are crippling its mission.
"'Nobody likes federal employees being demeaned by the administration, but when it escalates to violence or threats of it, it start to become really demoralizing,' said one NWS employee who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press."
This would be an especially bad time for Doppler weather radars to fail, either through mechanical failure or sabotage. As CNN reports, the agency has more than 90 vacancies for the technicians who normally repair them.
A Doppler radar that is offline can make meteorologists miss threatening weather like a developing tornado or flash flood.
Veterans on Patrol is an extremist conspiracy theory group but up until now don't have a big reputation for violence. Like many other similar groups, this one offers itself up as a safe haven for people who are going through a rough time.
A classic example came in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina last fall.
Veterans on Patrol serve up a spot in the town of Lake Lure, where they collected and distributed donated supplies, such as bottled water, food and clothing.
So far, so good.
Then Veterans on Patrol began telling storm victims there the government somehow steered Helene into western North Carolina so they could take land and harvest minerals. They also falsely said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was giving most aid to undocumented immigrants, terrorists and criminals.
Enough people in Lake Lure saw through this scam to force Veterans on Patrol to leave.
Somehow, I think there's some other public relations move by this group to target Doppler radar.
Maybe they're stooges. The Trump administration has been dismantling NOAA through repeated staff and resource cutbacks.
The goal might be to degrade NOAA and the National Weather Service enough to "prove" that government agencies are inept, so weather forecasting should go to a private company, thereby enriching a couple billionaires somewhere.
I obviously don't think Trump and Veterans for Patrol are working together. Although come to think of it they are a match made in heaven.
After all, corrupt administrations worldwide rely on useful idiots - people and groups that have swallowed anti-government propaganda no matter how off the wall.
A subset of Trumpers are willing to believe almost anything. Including the idea that Doppler radars are somehow "weather weapons."
The whack jobs feed the energy of the Trump True Believers, which enables the Trumpsters to pretend they have a groundswell of support behind them.
Trump and his minions don't need Veterans for Patrol, but I'm sure they consider them helpful.
To bad the rest of us are both appalled by this Doppler conspiracy and laughing our butts off at the purveyors of this nonsense.
No comments:
Post a Comment