Chris, I was glad to see your very valid comment posted on the revised article, along with several other comments showing on the PNJ's website today, some of which are not on Facebook. And I note the PNJ only responded to your comment (though probably not completely enough).
I'm relieved to report that the print edition version this morning was the revised version, not the horrific original. You are to be heartily congratulated for being a big part of that save.
I have a local friend, a very astute attorney, who read the revised version and sent the following comments in an email, which comments in some ways echo yours/ours/others', though they go a little further yet. I don't think he's going to post them anywhere, so though I'd share with y'all: I think you might appreciate his insight -- and also his humor at the last:
Sounds like corporate B.S. to me. The military weather forecasts are already available on-line. If there are any other DoD weather forecasts that are exclusive to the government but available for "exclusive" lease to one group only in the Panhandle of Florida, I've never heard of them.
This gives a clue to who is really behind this supposed "consumer advocacy" corporation:
"The NSC data will potentially solve disputes between homeowners and insurance companies, too. NSC is launching an interactive portal for homeowners to be paired up with contractors and public insurance adjusters. The weather company will be able to tell exactly what damaged a house, whether that be wind, hail, hurricane or the sort, and identify if a homeowner is making a fraudulent claim."
I would bet the farm they are a front for property insurance companies. In effect they will be manufacturing "expert" testimony to beat down insurance claims and scare the s--t out of homeowners who became homeless and merely want to settle their claim without hiring a lawyer or enduring years of litigation.
One sees this sort of thing in a lot of fields. They always posture themselves as on the side of the "consumer" or "buyer" or "patient."
By the way, I, too, could have "In one example...zeroed in on a storm in Little Rock, Ark. ...to street level and found heavy wind but no hail or snow or ice or arctic air masses within the storm." Of course, it was mid-August.
Someone should write PNJ reporter Thomas St. Meyer and suggest he visit a nearby sexual assault crisis center to be tested and get counseling. He has been raped.
Pretty funny if it weren't so sad.
BTW, Chris, did you ever hear anything back from NOAA? __BL
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