Hurricane Center director quits

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

National Hurricane Center director Bill Proenza left his position Monday, just days after nearly half of the NHC staff signed a petition calling for his ouster.

Proenza caused an uproar last month with comments he made concerning a key hurricane satellite called QuikSCAT. The satellite is five years beyond its life expectancy and operating on a backup transmitter. Proenza said if it were to fail, forecast tracks could be thrown off by as much as 16 percent.

He also claims Washington reprimanded him for the remarks: "They wanted me to be quiet about it."

Many of the National Hurricane Center's staff became upset with Proenza's remarks calling them misguided and without merit.

"QuikSCAT is another tool that we use to forecast," Lixion Avila said. "The forecast will not be degraded if we don't have the QuikSCAT."

NHC staff on Thursday issued a petition calling for Proenza to step down. The petition said the center's "effective functioning" is at stake as the Atlantic hurricane season heads toward its peak.

Proenza, 62, became the director in January after the retirement of Max Mayfield. Deputy Director Ed Rappaport has been temporarily placed in charge of the National Hurricane Center.