California Democrats call for reinstatement of National Weather Service staff

NBC News

3 days ago

California House Democrats on Friday demanded that the National Weather Service restore some terminated workers and begin hiring new forecasters after it halted around-the-clock operations at its Sacramento and Hanford weather forecasting offices, among others.
In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Laura Grimm, the acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 23 congressional Democrats decried recent cuts to the weather service, saying they represented the 'beginning of a public safety crisis with potentially catastrophic consequences.' The weather service is a division of NOAA, which is overseen by the Commerce Department.
'We demand that you immediately reinstate all terminated workers at these offices, lift the federal hiring freeze for NWS, and ensure that the Sacramento and Hanford weather forecast offices are adequately staffed to maintain 24/7 operations,' the congressional members wrote.
More than 500 weather service staffers have left the agency since January, after the Trump administration fired probationary workers en masse and offered early retirements to an aging workforce of forecasters. The cuts left about 43% of the nation's 122 weather forecasting offices with staffing vacancies above 20%. Independent meteorologists have said cuts could lead to less effective forecasting and slower severe weather warnings. The public safety concerns have become a political pressure point for the administration.
The California members of Congress wrote that the weather forecasting offices in Hanford and Sacramento were particularly hit hard, leaving them no longer able to provide 24/7 staffing.
'The Sacramento office currently has seven vacancies for meteorologists, out of 16 positions, while the Hanford office has eight vacancies out of 13 positions — leaving both offices operating at half strength as we approach the peak of wildfire season,' the letter says. 'If the NWS weather forecast offices in Sacramento and Hanford, together covering the entire Central Valley, cannot monitor overnight conditions, that puts our constituents in danger.'
The weather service often supplies meteorologists to support fire crews during wildfire season, the letter notes.
'This is a reckless and unnecessary risk that offers no benefit to the American public,' the letter says. 'Slashing staffing in half at the offices responsible for predicting wildfires, atmospheric rivers, and natural disasters is unacceptable, puts thousands of lives at risk, and does nothing to increase government efficiency.'
NOAA, the weather service and the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The weather service's Hanford office is located in the San Joaquin Valley, and is not far from where the long-dormant Tulare Lake re-formed in 2023, after a historic series of atmospheric river storms flooded the southern portion of California's Central Valley.
The Central Valley produces about 40% of the nation's fruits and nuts, according to the United States Geological Survey. Central Valley farmers rely on forecasts to make decisions about planting, irrigation and harvest.
Meanwhile, forecasters in Sacramento are predicting triple-digit heat and elevated wildfire risk this weekend, as the region faces an early start to the wildfire season.
Rep. Jim Costa, who represents part of the San Joaquin Valley that receives forecasting from the Hanford office, organized the letter to NOAA. Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Eric Swalwell and Zoe Lofgren are among 22 other signatories.
Pressure has been intensifying on the administration over cuts to the weather service for several months.
Outside meteorologists decried cuts to weather balloon releases at about a dozen short-staffed offices and, in one instance, said a missed balloon launch could have helped forecasters better understand the risk of tornadoes in a thunderstorm event near Omaha, Nebraska.
After the incident, Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., took steps to intervene with the administration and got additional forecasters temporarily assigned to the office near Omaha.
Earlier this month, five former directors of the weather service warned that additional cuts to the agency's staffing could lead to unnecessary deaths.
'Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life,' wrote the former directors, who served between 1988 and 2022.
NOAA has temporarily reassigned some staffers to plug holes in its workforce and also attempted to ease shortages by advertising permanent reassignments within the agency.