Whose scale is it anyway?

One of those controversies only Florida can have-

As far as snubs go, Leonard Saffir thinks this one is a Category 5.

The brother of the famous Saffir-Simpson scale's namesake blistered the Palm Beach County Hurricane Survival Guide for failing to give props to the system for measuring hurricane winds.

The guide used the Saffir-Simpson scale's wind measurements, but didn't cite the creators.

The omission is a violation of copyright law, said Leonard Saffir, a Lake Worth resident and brother of Herbert Saffir, a civil engineer who devised the scale in 1969.
"You are, I believe, a first: the only one, nationwide, not to give credit to the creators of the scale," Saffir, an author, wrote to County Administrator Bob Weisman.

Weisman said Friday the county was simply trying to get out information on how to prepare for hurricanes. "I thought Saffir's comments missed that point," he said. "He was nitpicking."

The complaint stems from a portion of the county's 34-page hurricane guide dealing with hurricane damage, based on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Saffir devised the 1-5 scale based on wind speed, and in the early 1970s, meteorologist Robert Simpson added storm surge effects to show the potential damage each would produce. A Category 1 storm has sustained winds from 74 mph to 95 mph, with a Category 5 at 155 mph and up.

Leonard Saffir said his brother, who is on an Alaskan cruise, didn't know he'd complained about the missing attribution. Herbert Saffir lives in Coral Gables.

"I just wanted to call it to the county's attention," Leonard Saffir said. "I didn't mean to scold them as much as I did."

Time to apologize Mr. Weisman. Otherwise you may face another storm of sorts- A lawsuit.

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