(2003-09-17) -- Matt Drudge, creator of the now legendary Drudge Report web site has just signed a deal with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to serve as exclusive publicist for hurricanes and tropical storms.

Mr. Drudge, who writes pithy headlines linked to news sites but is not a weblogger, refused to discuss the terms of the deal. Industry insiders say it's in the high seven figures.

"We'd like Drudge to devote a lot of links to storm-related stories and to our web site," said an unnamed NOAA spokesman. "He'll be the Jerry Maguire of hurricanes. We want him to sell each storm to his readers like it's going to rip your roof off and feed it to your grandma. Frankly, we weather geeks love the attention."

Drudge Report readers should expect no changes to the web site as a result of the deal.