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7/5/2025, 9:57:03 PM
>>509597216
Deadly storms earlier this spring in Kentucky and Missouri featured torrential rains during an ongoing tornado outbreak, a nightmare scenario that demands close attention by emergency managers to avoid people seeking shelter in flood zones. At the NWS office in Jackson, Kentucky, however, a staffing shortage meant there was no on-duty forecaster for the overnight shift when the storms were at their peak.
>This year marks the first time that local NWS forecast offices have stopped round-the-clock operations in the agency’s modern history.
Now, additional meteorologists are being remanded from research roles – where they would normally be working to improve techniques and make advances for future years – into the forecasting frontlines in an attempt to fill the staffing gaps.
>“The world’s example for weather services is being destroyed,” wrote Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin, on social media earlier this spring after a round of major changes were announced.
>In May, the main computer system that distributes NWS weather alerts to local partners for emergency broadcast suffered a lengthy outage. By the time the system was back online hours later, at least one flash flood warning, near Albuquerque, New Mexico and at least one tornado warning, near Columbia, South Carolina, never made it to the public.
The decision to collect a bedrock source of data for forecasters – weather balloons – has been deferred to local offices, essentially making twice-daily launches optional for understaffed forecast centers.
In June, offices that missed balloon launches serve New York City, Atlanta, Portland, and more than 10 sites in the midwest. Of the 91 launch sites, just over 70 sites were consistently launching balloons during peak tornado season in May – a loss of one-quarter of this critical data source.
Deadly storms earlier this spring in Kentucky and Missouri featured torrential rains during an ongoing tornado outbreak, a nightmare scenario that demands close attention by emergency managers to avoid people seeking shelter in flood zones. At the NWS office in Jackson, Kentucky, however, a staffing shortage meant there was no on-duty forecaster for the overnight shift when the storms were at their peak.
>This year marks the first time that local NWS forecast offices have stopped round-the-clock operations in the agency’s modern history.
Now, additional meteorologists are being remanded from research roles – where they would normally be working to improve techniques and make advances for future years – into the forecasting frontlines in an attempt to fill the staffing gaps.
>“The world’s example for weather services is being destroyed,” wrote Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin, on social media earlier this spring after a round of major changes were announced.
>In May, the main computer system that distributes NWS weather alerts to local partners for emergency broadcast suffered a lengthy outage. By the time the system was back online hours later, at least one flash flood warning, near Albuquerque, New Mexico and at least one tornado warning, near Columbia, South Carolina, never made it to the public.
The decision to collect a bedrock source of data for forecasters – weather balloons – has been deferred to local offices, essentially making twice-daily launches optional for understaffed forecast centers.
In June, offices that missed balloon launches serve New York City, Atlanta, Portland, and more than 10 sites in the midwest. Of the 91 launch sites, just over 70 sites were consistently launching balloons during peak tornado season in May – a loss of one-quarter of this critical data source.
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