A satellite program that has historically been a key source of weather forecasting data will be discontinued by July 31, as the United States enters peak hurricane season, according to the already resource-strapped National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

     The federal agency, which includes the National Weather Service, initially said last week that it was going to lose access to the satellite data by June 30. But in an update posted online on Monday, NOAA said the deadline to decommission the satellite system was pushed to July 31, at the request of a top official at NASA.

    Operated by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program has since the 1960s collected environmental information each day from satellites orbiting Earth, in order to provide real-time details about conditions in the atmosphere and oceans to the military. The data was made available to weather scientists for traditional forecasting purposes, after being processed by a branch of the Navy that focuses on meteorology and oceanography.

    Starting Aug. 1, that naval branch will no longer process or upload satellite data to the computing interface where meteorologists previously accessed it, according to NOAA.

     --CBSnews.com     June 30, 2045