Winter outlook aftershock: Bastardi knocks NOAA

Accuweather forecaster claims NOAA "following" his ideas

10 p.m. update: Interestingly, Bastardi's earlier tweets (given below) about NOAA's outlook have been removed from his Twitter feed. He posted a new tweet stating "Got the earlier NOAA references out.. Render to Caesar what is Caesar, right? Their overall idea not much different from ours."

From 9:15 a.m. Less than a day after NOAA's National Weather Service and AccuWeather simultaneously released their winter outlooks, AccuWeather chief long-range forecaster Joe Bastardi has publicly criticized NOAA for "following" and "not leading" with its predictions. On his Twitter feed this morning, Bastardi also insinuated NOAA may have taken some its winter outlook ideas from him/AccuWeather.

Keep reading for Bastardi's Tweets and NOAA's reaction...

Here are excerpts from Bastardi's Twitter tirade from around 7:30 a.m.Friday (today):

"Keep in mind folks, my forecast was released for the winter back in August. Like the hurricane forecast, NOAA is following, not leading.

"I am simply saying their idea looks like what was issued by me on accuweather.com publicly in August. Hurricanes, in Feb (16-18)"

"There is a NEED for the private sector in the weather.. and in everything else for that matter"

"I am not anti NOAA, I am pro truth, and the truth is that their ideas are following here. Okay off the high horse.. for now"

NOAA rejected Bastardi's suggestions. Chris Vaccaro, NOAA's Acting Director of Media Relations, provided the Capital Weather Gang (CWG) with the following reaction:

"NOAA issues seasonal forecasts that extend one year into the future. The first forecast for winter 2010/11 was issued in November 2009. Our forecast (which is updated monthly) hasn't changed significantly since June, when it became clear that La Nina would play a large role in shaping the winter 2010/11."

Hot and cold reactions to outlooks from CWG readers

There were a ton of reactions to the news that neither AccuWeather nor NOAA is expecting high odds of a snowy winter in the D.C. metro region. Readers sounded off in both the comment area of the Capital Weather Gang blog on the outlook and on CWG's Twitter feed. Here are some highlights:

From Twitter:

@econ_consultant: Knew there would be little snow the minute I bought that snowblower and generator in March!

@sjtetreault: Thank GOD.

@boxhill, @FunnyBunnyLarue, @MalnurturedSnay, @cBonics, @VTjawo: [Different variations of] BOO!

@make_lemons: Phew

@chiknpotpie: Sads. :(

@donkimsays: Way to jynx it!

From CWG Blog:

@Brandelina: Oh darn, I was so hoping for a good federal shutdown snowstorm. I love snow!

@Paaa: To all those of you who want snow this winter, I say "Move to Canada."

@mkarns: Personally, I hope for a moderate amount of snow, though not nearly as much as last year. I also hope this isn't like 2007-08 when there was almost nothing.

@grobinette: That is just the opposite of what the Farmers Almanac is predicting.

@Bombo47jea: Still waiting on the AUTHORITATIVE winter outlook for this area... the CWG outlook!

CWG's winter outlook will be issued around the November 1.