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The Man Who Runs The Weather
Fri Dec 12, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. In this last installment of our interview with
NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher, I asked him about an effort by some private firms to
make government-gathered weather information only available to the public through them. He
says, for the most part, that's not going to happen.
CONRAD: We have a well-developed private sector now and a well-developed public sector, and
there are certain things like hazardous warning, hazardous weather, severe storms, that sort
of thing really is in the public domain and is a clear-cut mission of NOAA and of public
organizations such as the National Weather Service. But there are other areas where
disseminating weather to the public and various industries clearly is the scope of a private
company,and we need both pieces of this meteorological community that we have today to serve
the public.
Laughtenbacher also had his own message for the public.
CONRAD: I'd just like to encourage everybody to, uh, think about the types of severe weather
events that they have in their part of the country and to think about how well-prepared they
are in case an event occurs - it could mean a life in the future.
Finally, I asked him what was one of his most memorable weather experiences.
CONRAD: A lightning storm at sea at night; it's an incredible experience. First of all you're
blinded so you immediately can't see anything. The lightning bolt stops and then you're -
you're totally immersed in darkness. You can't see where you are and then your sight has to
come back for a few seconds and then another bolt comes and hits you. It's dramatic.
Our thanks to Admiral Lautenbacher and NOAA for their time. The Weather Notebook is supported
by Subaru and The National Science Foundation.
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