15-04-2025
Severe weather alerts will no longer be translated, impacting Utah's non-English speaking communities
SALT LAKE CITY () — Recent changes to the National Weather Service's alert system are raising concerns across Utah, especially among non-English-speaking residents.
Due to federal budget cutbacks, severe weather warnings — including those for thunderstorms, blizzards, and other extreme weather events — are no longer being translated into other languages.
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The decision stems from a lapse in the contract between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Lilt, an artificial intelligence translation company that has provided translations for weather alerts since 2023. These translations covered languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, and Samoan.
In a written statement to ABC4, Marrissa Anderson from the National Weather Service's Public Affairs Department confirmed: 'Due to a contract lapse, NWS paused the automated language translation services for our products until further notice. This is all we can offer at this time.'
This change is especially concerning in Utah, where the Hispanic community makes up 15% of the population, according to the 2020 Census. Spanish is the most commonly spoken non-English language in the state.
Milka Soto, a Salt Lake City resident whose family owns a concrete business, shared how vital weather alerts are to her and many others in the Latino community.
'It definitely impacts how they're going to work, and how they work their schedule around that for any type of outside work,' she said. 'I think the Latin community does a lot of outside work, so it would still be beneficial for them to keep the weather forecast in both English and Spanish.'
Although smartphones and online tools provide easier access to weather updates, Milka pointed out that not everyone has the resources — or the tech-savvy — to use them.
'Some of the older community doesn't have the resources or know how to navigate a phone to check the weather. Those are small things, but it has an impact,' she said.
She emphasized that for people like her family, whose livelihoods depend on knowing the weather, timely and clear alerts are critical.
'We need to know what's going on — if it's going to rain or not — to do the construction. And if it's severe, we really need to know,' she said.
Across the U.S., roughly 68 million people speak a language other than English at home, according to 2019 census data. Of those, about 42 million are Spanish speakers.
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