- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defended President Donald Trump and its earlier assessment of Hurricane Dorian, and downplayed a contradicting statement from the National Weather Service's Alabama location.
- NOAA noted in its recent statement that the Birmingham National Weather Service had "spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time."
- The controversy over the likelihood of how Alabama could be impacted by Hurricane Dorian has now enveloped the White House for an entire week.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defended President Donald Trump and its earlier assessment of Hurricane Dorian, and downplayed a contradicting statement from the National Weather Service's Alabama outpost.
A NOAA spokesperson in a statement on Friday said that its information about how Alabama could be impacted by Hurricane Dorian and Trump's subsequent claims about it were an accurate reflection of their analysis.
The controversy over the likelihood of how Alabama could be impacted by Hurricane Dorian has now enveloped the White House for an entire week.
Trump on Sunday said Alabama was among the US states expected to be hit by the hurricane, a position the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, immediately shot down by clarifying that the state "will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian."
NOAA noted in its recent statement that the Birmingham National Weather Service had "spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time."
On Wednesday, Trump displayed a map of the hurricane's impact that curiously included a black cone touching Alabama. According to a White House official who spoke to The Washington Post, Trump had edited the map using a black marker.
The president also used Twitter to defend his claims and demanded "apologies" from news reporters, who he alleged were misconstruing his statements. In the tweet, Trump submitted an indeterminate "spaghetti plot" map as evidence that Alabama was, at one point, susceptible to the path of the hurricane.
However, the plot map did not take into account critical factors that determine a more accurate prediction of the trajectory of the storm's path. It did not include information about wind speeds, and showed the possible routes based on atmospheric conditions and the path of previous storms.
The plot map Trump revealed also noted on the bottom that "if anything on this graphic causes confusion, ignore this entire product."
NOAA's statement follows a similar one from another government official. On Thursday, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Peter Brown, a Homeland Security and counterterrorism advisor, appeared to take some of the blame for the confusion from Trump's claims.
Brown said in his statement that Trump's comments regarding Hurricane Dorian were based on a briefing, one that "included the possibility of tropical storm force winds in southeastern Alabama."
A White House source familiar with the matter said Trump personally directed Brown to give the statement, according to CNN.