Break It Down!
Long, long ago, in a land far, far away, the Trump administration cut and/or laid off hundreds National Weather Service (NWS) employees. This happened as hurricane season was pending, and ahead of the normal array of winter storm events that assail large swaths of America, especially in the Northeast and Midwest. It was one of many moves that Elon Musk, and DOGE undertook with more than a modicum of élan. In one particular occasion, Musk actually brandished a chain saw to underscore the wildly exuberant nature of the cuts he and DOGE were making, including those at the NWS.
Less than two weeks before the official first day of winter, as the exigencies of the season begin making themselves felt, the natives, er a, I mean, the citizens are getting restless. They realize the agency’s severe understaffing will put millions of Americans in peril, unnecessarily. Alas, it appears, as sometimes doesn’t happen, the Trump administration is also coming to this realization.
The NWS is now in the process of working to hire back hundreds of positions earlier displaced by the administration. Admittedly, it’s happening slowly. So far about 80 final job offers have been accepted for meteorologists, hydrologists, and other specialized staff.
The agency received permission in late July to add 450 people, after 550 people were cut by DOGE earlier. The decision to reverse course and authorize new hires came after lawmakers and citizens expressed concern about how the NWS cuts would impact public safety.
As a result of the slow hiring, the NWS will enter yet another critical storm season with over a dozen forecast offices forced to operate with severe staffing shortages, undermining forecast accuracy and warnings during powerful and dangerous winter storms.
(Lack of weather data due to Trump’s budget cuts impacted forecast for deadly Alaska storm).
This scenario is akin to the challenges and concerns raised ahead of hurricane season. Hurricanes, including three Category 5 storms, fortunately did not make landfall in the U.S.
Rick Spinrad, who led NOAA during the Biden administration, said “The administration is trying to put out a fire that they started. The 450 hires for the NWS won’t even cover the full shortfall.”
He further noted, “Also, let’s not lose sight of the fact that even if NWS could hire 450 people tomorrow, there is little chance that they would have the centuries of experience held by their predecessors.”
Staffing a weather forecast office requires 13 meteorologists. This enables fully staffing an office on a 24/7 basis. However, many NWS facilities are doing so with just 10 or 11 at the present time. Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the NWS Employees Organization, the union that represents agency staff, observed that the weather forecast office in Goodland, Kansas is short eight meteorologists.
He said that the NWS offices in Rapid City, N.D. and Cheyenne, WY are also short 7 or 8 meteorologists, and that, where new people have been hired, those individuals are not all in place. It takes time to move personnel and match peoples’ skillsets with specific gaps in expertise around the country.
Winter storms can be deadly, and short staffing at the NWS has the potential to erode forecast accuracy and delay warnings, experts said.
There is still one forecast office, located in Hanford, Calif., that is too short on staffing to operate 24/7, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) official who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. The NWS is part of NOAA within the Commerce Department.
On the flipside of the debate on the current efficacy of weather agencies, NOAA spokesperson Kim Doster told CNN that the NWS is “Properly staffed to meet our mission of predicting weather hazards and providing essential services at all levels to keep communities informed, and we remain fully ready for the winter season ahead.”
She said the agency is on track to hire the remaining staff by the end of the 2026 fiscal year (September 30, 2026). Playing along, I will concede, that could happen. But, if we are not as lucky with winter storms as we were with hurricanes that did not reach landfall, we could find out first-hand, just how devastating winter storms can be. It has been said there is an axiomatic expression for every situation. Clearly, the apt bromide for this case is, it’s better to be lucky than good. Here’s hoping we avoid “The Winter of Our Discontent!”
I’m done; holla back!
Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/. Find a new post each Wednesday.
To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.”
Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box. Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:
BREAK IT DOWN! 
We will be at Sunset Beach Jan and Feb; come hide out with us! Have a great holiday season. Maybe lunch at Lang Van one day? Kay loves their food. Best to Gwen.
LikeLike