Above photo: Meteorologists and members of the Japan Meteorological Agency monitor weather activity at NOAA in 2024. Michael A. McCoy/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the parent agency of the National Weather Service (NWS), indiscriminately fired employees.
NOTE: The Los Angeles Times reports: “About 5% of NOAA employees stationed around the U.S. — approximately 650 staffers — received a termination email Thursday, according to White House and congressional officials. The cuts shrank teams across all facets of the climate-focused agency, from experts working on weather forecasting, ocean health, climate change, fisheries and developments in space and the atmosphere.”
The following is thread on Twitter/X by Matt Lanza:
First, this makes the country less safe. Full stop. NWS offices were operating with staffing constraints (meaning they were already doing more with less). They are now operating doubly so. This is going to lead to stress, burn out, risk for miscues, and critical tools breaking.
This is not hype, hyperbole, exaggeration, any of it. I know dozens of NWS employees. This has been an issue for *years.* It was already a problem, and this has now just been made immeasurably worse. And there will be noticeable impacts.
Morning all! I’ve been encouraged by the outpouring of support for all of us in NWS/NOAA.
I wanted to specify a detail that I think is relevant from some conversations I’ve had. Most of us (at least at EMC) who were terminated were officially “probationary” because we are new…
— Andy Hazelton (@AndyHazelton) February 28, 2025
Second, I am gravely concerned about tools breaking that are critical to observations, analysis, and forecasts and not being repaired in a timely manner as we head into severe and hurricane seasons. This will degrade forecasts in all areas: Your phone app, my forecast, your TV met.
Third: No, your app cannot do what the NWS does. The majority of the data feeding it? Comes from NOAA. It doesn’t issue warnings, an NWS employee does. The Euro model? Needs consistent GLOBAL observational data, which will likely degrade in America (fewer balloon launches, etc.)
Fourth: NOAA does not manipulate data in a misleading manner as I’ve seen a lot say. There are scientific reasons for adjusting temperatures historically. Weather observation stations move across towns, metro areas, etc. Weather is not identical across a metro area.
That data needs to be kept as homogenous as possible for adequate historical comparisons because of this. Thus, temps are sometimes adjusted in small ways. This has been publicly known for years, if not decades. It’s not new. It’s not nefarious. It’s science. This is what you do.
Fifth: If you live in a conservative county, go ask your local emergency manager about their relationship with NOAA/NWS and how it helps your community. I’m not being snarky, I’m being serious. Go ask and listen to what they tell you. You will be (pleasantly) surprised.
Sixth: Arguably, the NWS provides an outsized benefit to rural, more conservative communities compared to larger cities. They lack the media bullhorns that larger cities have. Word doesn’t travel as fast. The NWS, local EMs, and local TV meteorologists work together to ensure it does.
Seven: I don’t think a lot of non-scientists understand the symbiotic relationship we have between public, private, and academic sectors. We all lean on each other for help, support, and R&D. We aren’t competing so much as all rowing different boats in the same direction.
When you degrade one of those pillars, you degrade them all. Thus, you are seeing a lot of even conservative leaning voices in meteorology speak out against this decision.
Should government spending be assessed to streamline processes, cut costs, etc? Absolutely. But you can’t do it in a “slash and burn” manner because the collateral damage you are causing is extreme (see the air traffic controller plea recently). It needs to be slow and informed.
Now, for those of you laid off, some advice. 1.) Get LinkedIN and connect with people with jobs that sound interesting to you. Reach out if you feel it’s worthwhile. 2.) Job search alerts: IMPORTANT!!! Search “meteorologist,” “climate,” “catastrophe.”
Dozens of jobs you never thought of will show up. The private sector is hiring. Maybe not your dream job, but it can hold you over until this storm passes. Or maybe you discover you love it.
You can always go back. Things are frenetic now, and the pendulum often swings back the other way. When that day comes, you can go back. None of this is your fault. At all. Taking another job isn’t failure or settling; it’s a necessary detour at this time.
Prioritize yourself and your mental health. This sucks, it’s angering, it’s stressful, all the emotions. Get help if you think you need it. Use our meteorologist mental health Facebook group to vent, talk, whatever. Many of us are here for you.
It may not seem like it, but the sun will one day rise again. I am not in government but I have been laid off before through no fault of my own, just like you. It was dark and miserable then. But the sun rose every day and set every day, and eventually it all got better.
I’m not going to say it’s going to be easy; it isn’t. Life isn’t fair. But just remember there is a future you can help shape still, and you will probably have that opportunity eventually again. You’re all in my thoughts.