NWS retired directors react

[just-jim]

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This is bad news. Not just for day-to-day weather forecasting. But specifically for forecasting of fire-weather during our up-coming fire season.

These NOAA/NWS forecasters not only do daily fire-weather forecasts, but they provide specific, timely, updates when weather conditions are rapidly changing.

In addition, these same experts have provided fire-related forecasting when larger Incident Management Teams are dispatched to a big fire (The type 1 and 2 teams). That has happened MANY times right here in the last 20-25 years. Those folks come to a fire and provide not just incident specific forecasts, but they work closely with other Incident personnel like Fire Behavior Analysts and Operations personnel to help shape strategy and tactics.

But most importantly, those ‘Incident Meteorologists’ provide a vital safety function. Firefighters will be at risk without the skills and knowledge of these weather experts.
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[Rideback]

An update on the ongoing staff cuts at NOAA and the National Weather Service (NWS) and their impact. They continue. This post went up yesterday (Friday, 5/2/2025) from Dr. Joe Friday on behalf of himself and other past National Weather Service Directors--and it lays out as clearly as any I've seen to date, just how these cuts, in practical terms, ARE and WILL IMPACT the agency's critical functions moving forward in time. You've heard us talk about developments within the NWS with Dr. Louis Uccellini, the agency's Director from 2013 to 2022.
Now, here's what Dr. Friday says in his post:
"As the oldest living former Director of the National Weather Service, I am glad to join all the rest of the former Directors in this OPEN LETTER:
May 2, 2025
An Open Letter to the American People
From All Former National Weather Service Directors
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2026, just released by the White House, cuts the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) by more than 25%. While details aren’t yet available, if earlier indications hold true this budget would essentially eliminate NOAA’s research functions for weather, slash funding for next generation satellite procurement, and severely limit ocean data observations.
Even if the National Weather Service remains level funded, given the interconnectedness of all of the parts of NOAA, there will be impacts to weather forecasting as well. We cannot let this happen.
NOAA’s satellites provide vital information about the formation and pathways of storms. NOAA research on severe storms has paved the way for tools we now use every day, such as Doppler radar and storm modeling advancements. NOAA Corps pilots fly into hurricanes to bring us real-time information on these increasingly severe storms. And data from ocean buoys add breadth and depth to our understanding of the interaction between the atmosphere and the sea.
These proposed cuts come just days after approximately 300 National Weather Service (NWS) employees left the public service to which they had devoted their lives and careers. That’s on top of the approximately 250 NWS employees who were fired as a result of their probationary status in new–often higher-level positions–or took the initial buyout offered by the Trump Administration in early February. That leaves the nation’s official weather forecasting entity at a significant deficit–down more than 10% of its staffing– just as we head into the busiest time for severe storm predictions like tornadoes and hurricanes.
NWS staff will have an impossible task to continue its current level of services. Some forecast offices will be so short-staffed that they may be forced to go to part time services. Not only are there fewer forecasters, there are also fewer electronic technicians, who are responsible for maintaining the critical NEXRAD radars. Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life. We know that’s a nightmare shared by those on the forecasting front lines—and by the people who depend on their efforts.
For example, airplanes can’t fly without weather observations and forecasts; ships crossing the oceans rely on storm forecasts to avoid the high seas; farmers rely on seasonal forecasts to plant and harvest their crops which feed us. Additionally, dam and reservoir operators rely on rainfall and snowfall forecasts to manage the water supply; fishermen in the $320 billion commercial fisheries sector rely on forecasts to stay safe as do tourism and recreational boating communities. Perhaps most importantly, NWS issues all of the tornado warnings, hurricane warnings, flood warnings, extreme wildfire conditions, and other information during extreme weather events. The dedicated staff at weather forecast offices around the country work 24/7/365 to make sure you get that information.
A word about these public servants. They aren’t nameless, faceless bureaucrats. They are your neighbors; your friends; the people who provide lifesaving information when you need it. They live and work in every community in the country. Their dedication to public service - and public safety - is unparalleled. They will often sleep in weather forecast offices to make sure poor weather conditions don’t stop them from being on time for their shifts to do their critical work. They stay at their stations during hurricanes, tornadoes and other severe storms, even when extreme weather affects their own families. They make sure the complicated technology, like the radars we all see on television or on our apps, stay up and operating. They are the everyday heroes that often go unsung.
The NWS heroes who remain know that lives and livelihoods literally depend on the accuracy of weather forecasts as well as the prompt dissemination of that information to the people who need it. As former directors of the National Weather Service, we know firsthand what it takes to make accurate forecasts happen and we stand united against the loss of staff and resources at NWS and are deeply concerned about NOAA as a whole. Join us and raise your voice too.
Louis Uccellini, Ph.D., NWS Director 2013-2022
Jack Hayes, Ph.D., NWS Director 2007-2012
Brigadier General D.L. Johnson, USAF (Ret),NWS Director 2004-2007
Brigadier General John J. Kelly Jr., USAF (Ret), NWS Director 1998-2004
E.W. (Joe) Friday, Ph.D., Colonel USAF (Ret), NWS Director, 1988-1997"
Tom Skilling