Schumer fights against NOAA cuts

Yahoo

14-03-2025

PLATTSBURGH — Potential cuts and mass layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could have a serious negative impact on the North Country.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said the unplanned and sudden layoffs at NOAA and the suspension of weather balloon launches and cuts to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory would cause great harm.
'Upstate New York knows the power of Mother Nature, from lake effect snowstorms to flooding to tornadoes that ravaged the region last summer. From homeowners to businesses to shippers, we know National Weather Service and NOAA satellites are lifesaving tools we need to keep our economy humming and Upstate New York safe from extreme weather,' Schume rsaid.
'But right now 'DOGE' is recklessly taking a chainsaw to the National Weather Service and that could lead to major gaps and Swiss cheese holes in Upstate New York's weather map when we need more frequent and advanced technology tracking storms.'
Schumer said these tools are how Upstate New York families get weather reports on a daily basis, how communities get emergency alerts, and it is how the region knows if a snowstorm is going to drop two inches or two feet overnight.
'These massive cuts to the National Weather Service are already starting to manifest in our backyard with weather balloons not being sent up in Albany, staff being fired, and services for Upstate New York shuttering,' he said.
'I'm demanding any and all cut services be immediately restored and answers about just how deep these cuts have already gone in Upstate New York. The safety of our communities during the next storm depends on it.'
Schumer said the impact of cuts is already being seen.
In Albany, the National Weather Service said it is suspending weather balloon launches due to 'DOGE' (Department of Government Efficiency) layoffs. Weather balloons give forecasters a three-dimensional picture of the atmosphere in real time, helping meteorologists provide New York residents fast and accurate predictions of what conditions they can expect when they step outside.
Schumer said these new cuts mean that weather balloons will not be going up in Albany as frequently, and meteorologists will have less data to predict how storms are evolving.
He also said the hyper local forecasting by the local NWS offices is especially important in instances of extreme weather like these tornados and lake effect snowstorms, it is important for New Yorkers to have fast, reliable, accurate weather forecasts so they can make the best decisions to keep themselves and their families safe.
'How is it in the public's interest to have less accurate weather information? It is cutting for the sake of cutting with no plan or forethought about the impacts it is having. I am all for rooting out fraud, but decimating weather forecasting people rely on every day is not waste, it is lifesaving information,' Schumer said.
Schumer said mass layoffs at NOAA are part of the Trump administration and Elon Musk's 'DOGE's indiscriminate slashes to the federal workforce and federal spending that are creating chaos and confusion in New York and across the country.
He said major cuts to the National Weather Service will make weather forecasting less reliable across Upstate New York. The Trump administration has planned mass layoffs at NOAA that would result in a reduction of its workforce by approximately 20%.
The Trump administration fired 586 probationary NOAA employees – including 108 NWS employees – last month. The National Weather Service was already short-staffed, Schumer said, and meteorologists warn that these additional cuts will hurt the agency's ability to make accurate weather predictions.