National Weather Service at 'breaking point' as storm approaches

[progree]

8. archive and excerpts (A&E's)

https://archive.ph/OXhW1

some local forecasting offices lost the ability to operate 24/7, cut back on launching weather balloons or staggered shifts ahead of extreme weather. ...

The situation in one eastern U.S. office is typical, said an employee there, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job. His office is down nearly half a dozen meteorologists and has been for months, he said, meaning everyone has had to work a lot harder, for longer, to ensure forecasting remains uninterrupted. To reduce the burden on remaining employees, the office switched to requiring only one staffer on each overnight shift, instead of two.

Even so, everyone must take midnight shifts far more often than they used to, the employee said. Staff must also coordinate their vacations so they don’t overlap. And any sudden illness probably means someone has to work a surprise double shift, because “there’s no wiggle room anymore,” the employee said. “People are burning out,” the employee said. “Just in conversations, you can tell everyone is starting to get a little frayed.”

Many offices have ceased launching weather balloons, a vital tool for forecasting, to save time and personnel. And across the country, current and former Weather Service staff said, offices are forgoing their normal outreach and training initiatives for local residents to prioritize the forecast above all else. ((and why that matters, e.g. “education is not reaching emergency managers who will need to coordinate with the NWS to, for example, evacuate people,” -progree))

. . . Bound by a web of rules and laws, federal hiring is often slow, he said. And it’s an open question how many people will want to apply — government work may seem like a bad option, since Trump has stripped away the guaranteed job stability that once made up for the lower pay. Moreover, the Weather Service is in the midst of significant change, as the Trump administration aims to eliminate funding for anything tied to climate change.

On top of that, Masters said, Weather Service job applications are slated to include questions about what potential forecasters would do to further Trump’s policy goals. This change is part of Trump’s broader overhaul of government hiring, meant to transform the nonpartisan, merit-based workforce into one that rewards loyalty to the president.