After Intense ‘04, ‘05, Storm Chief Is Set to Retire

After calmly presiding over six hurricane seasons, the last two of them brutally destructive, popular National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield is calling it quits.

“I’m tired,” he said Friday. “The last two seasons have taken a toll, you could say.”

Mayfield will stay on his $156,000 job until Jan. 3 to give the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration time to find a new director. He is supporting Ed Rappaport, the center’s deputy director, to be his successor.

Mayfield, 57, said the chaotic 2004 and 2005 seasons contributed heavily to his decision, noting he spent too many nights on the couch of his office.

After 34 years of forecasting, he plans to take time off and then return to working with the program in a lesser role, he said.

He intends to remain in South Florida.

He said he would be fully involved until he left.

“I’m focused on this season,” he said.

Though Mayfield notified his bosses in July that he planned to retire, his staff was not notified until Friday afternoon.

Mayfield said he had wanted to get the search for a new director started without the distraction of rumors or media attention.

“I don’t want to make a deal out of this,” Mayfield said. “The hurricane program is not about Max Mayfield.”

Mayfield became a household name for being a calm voice during hundreds of television, radio and newspaper interviews during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

He said he never really enjoyed being so visible. “I’m the world’s biggest introvert,” he said. “It’s hard for me to do all these interviews. But once you make a forecast, you can’t wait to share it with the world.”

His profile rose even higher after President Bush visited the center in July and after he testified before Congress in September about his attempts to warn New Orleans officials before Hurricane Katrina.

Watching Katrina take aim at the Gulf Coast a year ago and knowing that the region was in deep trouble was the most memorable moment of his career, he said. Mayfield called numerous area officials to warn them the storm was extremely dangerous.

“I was thinking about the loss of lives,” he said.

Overall, he said the job was exhausting because of the media attention during the season and the conference travel.

“I’ve given this job everything,” he said, but added, “It’s time to move on.”