National Weather Service staffing shortages raise concerns as winter begins

As winter weather ramps up in intensity the National Weather Utility is working to fill critical roles such as meteorologists technical experts and scientists Rick Spinrad the former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator warned staffing shortages could have serious consequences especially if a major storm hits the D C region He mentioned every position at a forecast office plays a vital role from analyzing storm models to helping local governments decide where to salt highways such as Interstate Each person working in that forecast office is doing a different kind of function and if any of those functions are unfilled it means basically that piece of the forecast that piece of critical information may not be available at all or in a timely fashion Spinrad informed WTOP The Washington Post published about six National Weather System offices remain understaffed even after a hiring push this summer to fill critical roles Those openings came after budget cuts earlier this year that led to layoffs separations and retirements Spinrad mentioned the agency has talented people but not enough of them That s part of the matter we ve got right now with the weather institution We ve got outstanding forecasters and meteorologists and technologists and scientists but we just don t have the critical mass he disclosed Spinrad also pointed to real-world consequences He cited the Guadalupe River flash flood in Texas on July where more than people died He disclosed the absence of a warning coordination meteorologist may have played a role President Donald Trump s administration after the flooding denied that cuts impacted weather forecasting Beyond immediate forecasting Spinrad commented there is also the impact of a loss of experienced staff On the first of May in NOAA because of the early retirement push that this administration made the agency saw people leave on one day More importantly years of experience went out the door in one day he disclosed Related stories Want to work for National Weather Provision Be ready to explain how you agree with Trump After deep DOGE cuts National Weather Function gets OK to fill up to jobs Cold weather is nothing new The way the National Weather Facility will describe it is He mentioned new employees bulk likely won t have the trust that their predecessors built over the years between crisis managers and others Just because I walked into a job nowadays doesn t mean that I have the relationships and the contacts and the trust that in plenty of cases may take years to build up between different factions of the partnership Spinrad announced He added that hiring alone may not solve the trouble as chosen young professionals are now hesitant to join the weather institution I ve genuinely talked with young professionals who may be just coming out of graduate school who in the past wouldn t have thought twice about going for what was considered a plum of a job at the National Weather Institution and are now saying I m just not sure if there s not assurance in that ' Spinrad explained A NOAA spokesperson notified the Washington Post that the weather system is seeing progress and expects to fill hundreds of positions posted this summer Spinrad warned that fewer forecasters and less experience could mean slower or less accurate information during major storms Source