The Club PUBlication 04/21/2025

Weather Service losses are growing
Looming gaps raise fears as the severe storm season ramps up.​
By SCOTT DANCE The Washington Post

At least 300 National Weather Service employees were expected to take the latest federal buyout offer by a Thursday deadline, departures the agency's top official told employees could leave many forecast offices around the country with half the meteorologists they need to properly monitor extreme weather threats.

The losses will be widespread across the agency, which faced a growing number of impending retirements even before this year's departures began. Eight of the Weather Service's 122 local forecast offices soon will have seven or fewer meteorologists to do the work of 12 to 15 people, NWS Director Ken Graham told his colleagues in a briefing this week, according to two people familiar with his comments.

Some meteorologists and public officials warned that these reductions, which leave the agency nearly 20% smaller than it was when President Donald Trump took office, could have deadly consequences when storms next strike. As forecast offices grapple with the changes, a memo obtained by the Washington Post also details ways they should cut back on certain services, including weather balloon launches.

The looming gaps have elevated fears particularly for forecasters in central states, including in the heart of the country, where tornadoes and menacing storms are frequent. As severe storm season ramps up, it's the offices in places such as Kansas City, Omaha, Louisville, Des Moines and Grand Rapids that were facing the most significant staffing shortages after buyouts earlier this year, according to people familiar with the agency.

"You can only stretch things so much," said Alan Gerard, who recently retired from the National Severe Storms Laboratory and was previously the meteorologist-in-charge at the Weather Service in Jackson, Miss. "Eventually, things start to break."

While there are many sources of weather forecasts, from smartphone apps to broadcast radio and TV, the Weather Service's data and predictions undergird them all. The agency is also responsible for warning the public when a tornado, hurricane or other extreme weather threat is imminent.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the websites of several of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's six regional climate centers went dark because of a funding lapse .
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"This isn't about finding government waste; this isn't about finding fraud. This is about making sure the United States of America is protected," said Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Ill., who worked as a television meteorologist before joining Congress. "I am incredibly worried about the safety of my own constituents."