Latest news with #NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAgency
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
NOAA predicts above-average hurricane activity this year
In East Tennessee on Tuesday, Gov. Bill Lee viewed a buckled road damaged by the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), in its annual outlook released Thursday, predicted 13 to 19 named storms, including six to 10 hurricanes. Of those, it expects three to five major hurricanes of category 3, 4 or 5 strength, packing winds of 111 mph or greater. (Brandon Hull/Office of the Governor of Tennessee) This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expect above-average hurricane activity this season. The federal agency, in its annual outlook released Thursday, predicted 13 to 19 named storms, including six to 10 hurricanes. Of those, it expects three to five major hurricanes of category 3, 4 or 5 strength, packing winds of 111 mph or greater. The agency said there was a 60 percent chance of an above-normal season, a 30 percent chance of a near-normal season and a 10 percent chance of a below-normal season. The forecast represents an estimate of activity, not number of landfalls. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The average season features 14 named storms, including seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes, according to NOAA. The season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30. 'We're ready here at NOAA,' said Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service, during a news briefing held in Gretna, Louisiana, to mark 20 years since Hurricane Katrina. 'Are you?' NOAA based its forecast on a confluence of factors, including warmer than average ocean temperatures, potentially weak wind shear and the possibility of higher activity from the West African Monsoon, a primary starting point for Atlantic hurricanes. Warmer oceans fuel storms with more energy, while weaker winds allow them to develop without disruption. Forecasters at Colorado State University also anticipate an above-average season, with 17 named storms—including nine hurricanes, four of them major. The forecasters predicted activity would be about 125 percent of that during an average season between 1991 and 2020. By comparison, activity in 2024 was about 130 percent of an average season's during that time. The 2024 season will be best-remembered for hurricanes Helene and Milton, which together caused more than 250 fatalities and $120 billion in damage across the Southeast. The Colorado State University forecasters said this season there is a 51 percent chance of a major hurricane striking the U.S., with a 26 percent chance of one of the storms making landfall along the East Coast and 33 percent chance along the Gulf Coast. They predict a 56 percent chance of a major hurricane tracking through the Caribbean. The season arrives amid widespread uncertainty over the role the federal government will play in disaster response and recovery, as the Trump administration fires employees, freezes funding and dismantles agencies. NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are among the targets. 'Uncertainty is not great,' said Phil Klotzbach, a senior research scientist at Colorado State University's Department of Atmospheric Science. 'It just adds another layer of stress. That isn't great when people are trying to prepare for hurricane season.' As much as 30 percent of the workforce at NOAA's National Weather Service has been eliminated, said Rick Spinrad, a former NOAA administrator under the Biden administration. He worried NOAA may struggle to maintain its Hurricane Hunter flights, which he said account for a 15 percent improvement in track and intensity forecasting. 'If you lose that capacity to predict the track, you could either unnecessarily evacuate tens or hundreds of thousands of people, or evacuate the wrong people or not evacuate people who should be evacuated,' he said. 'So we are putting lives and property in significant danger with the degradation of the forecast capability.' No changes to the flights have been proposed, said Michael 'Mac' McAlister, who has flown with the Hurricane Hunters for 10 years. This will be the 50th season for one of the two aircraft involved in the program, a WP-3D Orion named Kermit. The other plane is called Miss Piggy. 'There are hardly any 50-year-old pieces of this aircraft left,' McAlister said, referring to Kermit. 'The wings get chopped off every five years. In my opinion these are two of the greatest national assets, because of the data they provide.' No one from the National Hurricane Center, a division of the National Weather Service, attended this year's National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans, said Craig Fugate, a former FEMA administrator under the Obama administration and former director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Normally the National Hurricane Center would brief state and local emergency managers at the conference on new forecasting methods, to help the managers improve communications with the public about, say, when evacuations are necessary. The training is important because there can be high turnover among emergency managers, he said. 'I'm just not aware of any other time that the hurricane center staff wasn't at that conference,' Fugate said. NOAA declined to comment on the conference but said Thursday its forecasts would be no less accurate. For instance, the federal agency said the model used to predict hurricanes would undergo an upgrade that would improve track and intensity forecasts by as much as 5 percent. 'We are fully staffed at the Hurricane Center, and we are definitely ready to go,' said Laura Grimm, acting NOAA administrator. 'We are really making this a top priority for the administration.' Kim Doster, the agency's communications director, added in a statement, 'in the near term, NWS has updated the service level standards for its weather forecast offices to manage impacts due to shifting personnel resources. These revised standards reflect the transformation and prioritization of mission-essential operations, while supporting the balance of the operational workload for its workforce. NWS continues to ensure a continuity of service for mission-critical functions.' Meanwhile, FEMA is in turmoil, with President Donald Trump suggesting he might eliminate the federal agency. Cameron Hamilton, acting head of FEMA, was ousted earlier this month after testifying before a congressional subcommittee that elimination would not be 'in the best interest of the American people.' His dismissal coincided with National Hurricane Preparedness Week, declared by Trump in a proclamation in which the president said he remained 'steadfastly committed to supporting hurricane recovery efforts and ensuring that Federal resources and tax dollars are allocated to American citizens in need.' But during Trump's first week in office he appointed a task force to review FEMA's ability to respond to disasters. And in March he signed an executive order asserting that federal policy must 'recognize that preparedness is most effectively owned and managed at the State, local, and even individual levels.' The order called on state and local governments and individuals to 'play a more active and significant role in national resilience and preparedness.' In April the administration denied a request for assistance from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, after tornadoes ripped through several counties there. The administration approved the request in May. Nonetheless, FEMA told Inside Climate News in a statement, before Hamilton was fired, that its response to disasters would not be diminished. 'Unlike the previous administration's unprepared, disgraceful and inadequate response to natural disasters like Hurricane Helene, the Trump administration is committed to ensuring Americans affected by emergencies will get the help they need in a quick and efficient manner,' the statement reads. 'All operational and readiness requirements will continue to be managed without interruption in close coordination with local and state officials ahead of the 2025 Hurricane Season. Emergency management is best when led by local and state authorities.' In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis welcomed the prospect of more state leadership in disaster response. During an April event in Kissimmee he said he believed the Trump administration would send block-grant funding to states, which could manage the calamities more efficiently. 'We're not going to be left in the cold. But I can tell you that the FEMA bureaucracy is an impediment to disaster recovery,' said DeSantis, who ran against Trump in the 2024 Republican primary. 'We're nimble. We're quick. We adjust. So empower the states. Give us the resources, and we don't necessarily need the federal government to be involved at all.' But state and local governments already lead the response to disasters, Fugate notes. Governors request federal help only when the scope of the crisis exceeds the state's capabilities, with the federal government providing little more than funding. He said it was too soon to guess how all of the developments may affect hurricane season. Trump's budget request, released earlier this month, would slash more than $1.3 billion from NOAA and $646 million from FEMA. Congress must approve the proposal. An earlier leaked draft, obtained by Inside Climate News, would abolish NOAA's research office, called Oceanic and Atmospheric Research or NOAA Research. The office is charged with providing unbiased science to, among other things, improve forecasts and enhance warnings ahead of disasters. The draft included $171 million for the office, down from $485 million in 2024. The few programs that remain, including research into severe storms, would be moved primarily to the National Weather Service and National Ocean Service. The Trump administration's 2026 budget passback, as the draft was called, included 'significant reductions to education, grants, research, and climate-related programs within NOAA,' according to the document. 'Passback levels support a leaner NOAA that focuses on core operational needs, eliminates unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, terminates nonessential grant programs and ends activities that do not warrant a Federal role.' Project 2025, the conservative strategy for remaking the federal government, calls for NOAA to be taken apart, with many functions eliminated, privatized or moved to other agencies or state and local governments. The document suggests reforming FEMA to shift much of its spending on preparedness and response to state and local governments. 'We're just providing as accurate information as we can,' said Andy Hazelton, a National Weather Service scientist who was let go earlier this year. 'Hopefully we can get back to that, but it's been a very, very tough environment for the last few months.' In central Florida, all of the uncertainty has left Alan Harris, the emergency manager in Seminole County, grappling with how to prepare for hurricane season. Seminole is a suburban county north of Orlando that is spliced through by the St. Johns River, Florida's longest. The county has experienced flooding during several recent hurricanes, including Ian in 2022 and Milton in 2024. The agency depends on forecasts from the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center and assistance from FEMA after a storm has passed. It had applied for a grant for a new generator for a special needs shelter under the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which Trump signed into law in 2020. But the Trump administration ended the program recently. 'We at the local level are going to make sure that our residents are taken care of regardless of what happens at the federal or state level,' Harris said. 'We will need help. We just don't know where that help is going to come from. But I have 100 percent confidence that there will be help whether it's through mutual aid agreements or it's from other states or our own state. We're going to make sure our residents are taken care of.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
U.S. Rocked by Deadly Tornadoes After Trump Gutted Key Agency
A violent tornado outbreak over the weekend sent millions bracing in the Midwest and South and killed at least 40 people, just days after Donald Trump's administration ordered another round of massive layoffs at the country's severe weather tracking agency. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency announced last week that it would terminate 10 percent of its workforce, which will equate to roughly 1,000 of the agency's 10,000 employees. NOAA plays an essential role in weather forecasting and warning Americans about natural disasters, including avalanches, electrical events, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, and of course, tornadoes. Reporting from 122 local offices, NOAA officials provide guidance on how to avoid danger. The agency had already been subject to an earlier round of workforce cuts at the beginning of the month. By the time the latest cuts are complete, one in four jobs at the agency will have been terminated. Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist who is a conservative and NOAA chief scientist under Trump, warned against the cuts, calling NOAA's work an 'amazing undertaking.' 'You can't count on TV meteorologists to fill this gap and you can't count on private meteorology,' Maue told the Associated Press. 'You can't count on your weather app to call you up and alert you'' to tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and floods in your area. NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said that the cuts proposed by the Trump administration posed a serious threat to the work of his agency. 'This is not government efficiency,' Spinrad told the AP. 'It is the first steps toward eradication. There is no way to make these kinds of cuts without removing or strongly compromising mission capabilities.' The powerful storm system was exiting the U.S. on Monday, leaving behind a trail of destruction and fatalities concentrated mostly in Missouri. Trump posted a statement on social media Sunday saying that his administration was tracking the severe weather event. 'We are actively monitoring the severe tornadoes and storms that have impacted many States across the South and Midwest—36 innocent lives have been lost, and many more devastated,' he wrote. 'The National Guard have been deployed to Arkansas, and my Administration is ready to assist State and Local Officials, as they help their communities to try and recover from the damage. Please join Melania and me in praying for everyone impacted by these terrible storms!' But before that, he was bragging about having won a golf award at his own club.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
They fly into hurricanes for NOAA – and still got caught in Doge's purge
As an engineer who flies into hurricanes for the US government, Josh Ripp is accustomed to turbulence. But the last two weeks have been far bumpier than he's used to. In late February, the Trump administration fired Mr Ripp and over 800 recently hired or promoted staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency using a form email, part of ongoing cuts to the federal workforce. Suddenly, he and several other members of the elite Hurricane Hunters flight team were out of a job - until around 21:00 Friday when he received a second email. He was to report back to work in Lakeland, Florida, 12 March, it said. For Mr Ripp, a retired US Navy officer who voted for Donald Trump, the confusion highlighted the dangers of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashing thousands of government jobs to cut costs without agency input. As soon as this week, the Trump administration could consider axing more than 1,000 additional staffers at NOAA, according to BBC News partner CBS News. Those potential cuts, plus losses from previous firings and buyouts, would cost the agency up to 20% of its workforce, the New York Times reported. The White House did not comment on additional cuts, but a Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised during the first round of dismissals. Has Doge really found hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud? Who is Doge's official leader? White House says it's not Musk "NOAA provides vital information to the entire country and we do it at a fraction of the cost that anyone else could do," Mr Ripp said. "There's a lot of jobs out there that are very important. NOAA is a small agency. Every little bit hurts." The cuts will not only harm government functions, staffers and weather experts warn, but they could disrupt the daily lives of Americans who rely on accurate NOAA data more than they know. The data that powers Americans' smartphone weather apps and informs local meteorologists comes from NOAA and its subsidiary, the National Weather Service. Americans use it to decide what to wear, and whether to meet friends in the park or indoors. They rely on it during hurricanes, tornadoes or blizzards. List weekly accomplishments or resign, Musk tells US federal workers Musk wields his Doge chainsaw - but is a backlash brewing? Airlines and federal aviation officials need forecasts to safely guide planes through the sky. Retailers use them to schedule customer deliveries. Shipping companies and fisheries in the Great Lakes rely on NOAA updates about ice conditions and algae blooms. "People take for granted how accurate the weather forecasts are," said Andy Hazelton, a NOAA climate scientist who modelled hurricane paths and was fired in February. "Forecasts are going to get worse because offices are understaffed." Hurricane Hunters measure hurricanes from the inside, gauging their strength and paths. As a flight engineer for the P-3 aircraft, Mr Ripp ensures that the nearly 50-year-old planes NOAA uses are safe. Missions cannot take off without team members like him aboard. The original staffing cuts would have limited hurricane flights, said Lt Kerri Englert, a flight director for the Hurricane Hunters - also cut in February then reinstated. "That means data doesn't get ingested into the models, and forecasting for those hurricane tracks and intensity will be less accurate," she said. adding that it would impact evacuations, money allocated for storm preparation and disaster response. Already, local National Weather Service offices have scaled back lesser known but crucial work, due to cuts. Watch: Moment extreme turbulence hits Hurricane Milton hunters Helene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since Katrina For example, scientific balloon launches from Alaska - vital to national forecasts because the location allows them to assess systems moving from west to east - were curtailed, weather experts told the BBC. Launches in New York and Maine also were reduced. NOAA spokeswoman Susan Buchanan declined to comment on individual staffing decisions, citing agency policy. But, she said, "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience." "We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission." A Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised. Some of NOAA's long-term, climate-focused initiatives also face cuts. Before he was fired, NOAA scientist Zach Labe studied using artificial intelligence to prepare for deadly heat waves. Others in his division, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, also were fired and their specialities make them difficult to replace, he said. "People who were impacted were definitely the key people who were leading the development of the US weather models," Mr Labe told BBC. Even private sector weather companies rely on accurate NOAA and NWS data for their products. "We operate on razor thin margins to keep costs low," said Ryan Hickman, owner and chief technology officer at AllisonHouse, which takes data from NOAA and other sources to create custom weather visualisations. For AllisonHouse, NOAA is both a data source and a client. Mr Hickman was particularly worried that the agency's radar and satellite services could be impacted. "Nobody else has these satellite capabilities NOAA has," he said. "Unless someone has a billion dollars to build a weather satellite and launch it into geostationary orbit, and have it sit there and read all this data, and bring it back down to Earth so that everyone else can see it and use it, then what are we doing here?" The prospect of more cuts alarms scientists and private businessmen like Mr Hickman, who believe they will strain the agency's maintenance of the complex and delicate instruments needed to produce real-time as well as future forecasts. NOAA's primary goal is to keep Americans informed about the future, in ways both mundane and urgent, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "There is almost unanimous horror among people who really understand how this works," he said. He feared some in the administration believe in a "philosophy that not only can we not plan for the future, but we also should not even try to prevent bad things from happening." Back in Florida, Mr Ripp still doesn't know what the future holds. During his brief unemployment, he explored opportunities flying for a private firefighting company – and still would not rule out leaving NOAA. He remains angry that fellow veterans were caught up in the layoffs. He backed Trump due to the president's commitment to the rule of law, he said, but now Mr Ripp thinks Trump is flouting the correct procedures for reducing the federal workforce. "We're very good stewards of the money we're given by the government. We're not out here committing waste or anything like that," Mr Ripp said. "If you're looking for government savings, NOAA's not the place."
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Americans rely on NOAA weather data more than they know. But cuts may limit services
As an engineer who flies into hurricanes for the US government, Josh Ripp is accustomed to turbulence. But the last two weeks have been far bumpier than he's used to. In late February, the Trump administration fired Mr Ripp and over 800 recently hired or promoted staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency using a form email, part of ongoing cuts to the federal workforce. Suddenly, he and several other members of the elite Hurricane Hunters flight team were out of a job - until around 21:00 Friday when he received a second email. He was to report back to work in Lakeland, Florida, 12 March, it said. For Mr Ripp, a retired US Navy officer who voted for Donald Trump, the confusion highlighted the dangers of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashing thousands of government jobs to cut costs without agency input. As soon as this week, the Trump administration could consider axing more than 1,000 additional staffers at NOAA, according to BBC News partner CBS News. Those potential cuts, plus losses from previous firings and buyouts, would cost the agency up to 20% of its workforce, the New York Times reported. The White House did not comment on additional cuts, but a Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised during the first round of dismissals. Has Doge really found hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud? Who is Doge's official leader? White House says it's not Musk "NOAA provides vital information to the entire country and we do it at a fraction of the cost that anyone else could do," Mr Ripp said. "There's a lot of jobs out there that are very important. NOAA is a small agency. Every little bit hurts." The cuts will not only harm government functions, staffers and weather experts warn, but they could disrupt the daily lives of Americans who rely on accurate NOAA data more than they know. The data that powers Americans' smartphone weather apps and informs local meteorologists comes from NOAA and its subsidiary, the National Weather Service. Americans use it to decide what to wear, and whether to meet friends in the park or indoors. They rely on it during hurricanes, tornadoes or blizzards. List weekly accomplishments or resign, Musk tells US federal workers Musk wields his Doge chainsaw - but is a backlash brewing? Airlines and federal aviation officials need forecasts to safely guide planes through the sky. Retailers use them to schedule customer deliveries. Shipping companies and fisheries in the Great Lakes rely on NOAA updates about ice conditions and algae blooms. "People take for granted how accurate the weather forecasts are," said Andy Hazelton, a NOAA climate scientist who modelled hurricane paths and was fired in February. "Forecasts are going to get worse because offices are understaffed." Hurricane Hunters measure hurricanes from the inside, gauging their strength and paths. As a flight engineer for the P-3 aircraft, Mr Ripp ensures that the nearly 50-year-old planes NOAA uses are safe. Missions cannot take off without team members like him aboard. The original staffing cuts would have limited hurricane flights, said Lt Kerri Englert, a flight director for the Hurricane Hunters - also cut in February then reinstated. "That means data doesn't get ingested into the models, and forecasting for those hurricane tracks and intensity will be less accurate," she said. adding that it would impact evacuations, money allocated for storm preparation and disaster response. Already, local National Weather Service offices have scaled back lesser known but crucial work, due to cuts. Watch: Moment extreme turbulence hits Hurricane Milton hunters Helene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since Katrina For example, scientific balloon launches from Alaska - vital to national forecasts because the location allows them to assess systems moving from west to east - were curtailed, weather experts told the BBC. Launches in New York and Maine also were reduced. NOAA spokeswoman Susan Buchanan declined to comment on individual staffing decisions, citing agency policy. But, she said, "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience." "We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission." A Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised. Some of NOAA's long-term, climate-focused initiatives also face cuts. Before he was fired, NOAA scientist Zach Labe studied using artificial intelligence to prepare for deadly heat waves. Others in his division, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, also were fired and their specialities make them difficult to replace, he said. "People who were impacted were definitely the key people who were leading the development of the US weather models," Mr Labe told BBC. Even private sector weather companies rely on accurate NOAA and NWS data for their products. "We operate on razor thin margins to keep costs low," said Ryan Hickman, owner and chief technology officer at AllisonHouse, which takes data from NOAA and other sources to create custom weather visualisations. For AllisonHouse, NOAA is both a data source and a client. Mr Hickman was particularly worried that the agency's radar and satellite services could be impacted. "Nobody else has these satellite capabilities NOAA has," he said. "Unless someone has a billion dollars to build a weather satellite and launch it into geostationary orbit, and have it sit there and read all this data, and bring it back down to Earth so that everyone else can see it and use it, then what are we doing here?" The prospect of more cuts alarms scientists and private businessmen like Mr Hickman, who believe they will strain the agency's maintenance of the complex and delicate instruments needed to produce real-time as well as future forecasts. NOAA's primary goal is to keep Americans informed about the future, in ways both mundane and urgent, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "There is almost unanimous horror among people who really understand how this works," he said. He feard some in the administration believe in a "philosophy that not only can we not plan for the future, but we also should not even try to prevent bad things from happening." Back in Florida, Mr Ripp still doesn't know what the future holds. During his brief unemployment, he explored opportunities flying for a private firefighting company – and still would not rule out leaving NOAA. He remains angry that fellow veterans were caught up in the layoffs. He backed Trump due to the president's commitment to the rule of law, he said, but now Mr Ripp thinks Trump is flouting the correct procedures for reducing the federal workforce. "We're very good stewards of the money we're given by the government. We're not out here committing waste or anything like that," Mr Ripp said. "If you're looking for government savings, NOAA's not the place."
BBC News
13-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Hurricane forecasts and weather data at stake in NOAA cuts
As an engineer who flies into hurricanes for the US government, Josh Ripp is accustomed to turbulence. But the last two weeks have been far bumpier than he's used late February, the Trump administration fired Mr Ripp and over 800 recently hired or promoted staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency using a form email, part of ongoing cuts to the federal he and several other members of the elite Hurricane Hunters flight team were out of a job - until around 21:00 Friday when he received a second email. He was to report back to work in Lakeland, Florida, 12 March, it Mr Ripp, a retired US Navy officer who voted for Donald Trump, the confusion highlighted the dangers of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashing thousands of government jobs to cut costs without agency soon as this week, the Trump administration could consider axing more than 1,000 additional staffers at NOAA, according to BBC News partner CBS News. Those potential cuts, plus losses from previous firings and buyouts, would cost the agency up to 20% of its workforce, the New York Times reported. The White House did not comment on additional cuts, but a Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised during the first round of Doge really found hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud?Who is Doge's official leader? White House says it's not Musk"NOAA provides vital information to the entire country and we do it at a fraction of the cost that anyone else could do," Mr Ripp said. "There's a lot of jobs out there that are very important. NOAA is a small agency. Every little bit hurts."The cuts will not only harm government functions, staffers and weather experts warn, but they could disrupt the daily lives of Americans who rely on accurate NOAA data more than they data that powers Americans' smartphone weather apps and informs local meteorologists comes from NOAA and its subsidiary, the National Weather Service. Americans use it to decide what to wear, and whether to meet friends in the park or indoors. They rely on it during hurricanes, tornadoes or blizzards. List weekly accomplishments or resign, Musk tells US federal workersMusk wields his Doge chainsaw - but is a backlash brewing?Airlines and federal aviation officials need forecasts to safely guide planes through the sky. Retailers use them to schedule customer deliveries. Shipping companies and fisheries in the Great Lakes rely on NOAA updates about ice conditions and algae blooms."People take for granted how accurate the weather forecasts are," said Andy Hazelton, a NOAA climate scientist who modelled hurricane paths and was fired in February. "Forecasts are going to get worse because offices are understaffed." Flying into hurricanes, so you don't have to Hurricane Hunters measure hurricanes from the inside, gauging their strength and paths. As a flight engineer for the P-3 aircraft, Mr Ripp ensures that the nearly 50-year-old planes NOAA uses are safe. Missions cannot take off without team members like him original staffing cuts would have limited hurricane flights, said Lt Kerri Englert, a flight director for the Hurricane Hunters - also cut in February then reinstated. "That means data doesn't get ingested into the models, and forecasting for those hurricane tracks and intensity will be less accurate," she said. adding that it would impact evacuations, money allocated for storm preparation and disaster local National Weather Service offices have scaled back lesser known but crucial work, due to Moment extreme turbulence hits Hurricane Milton huntersHelene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since KatrinaFor example, scientific balloon launches from Alaska - vital to national forecasts because the location allows them to assess systems moving from west to east - were curtailed, weather experts told the BBC. Launches in New York and Maine also were spokeswoman Susan Buchanan declined to comment on individual staffing decisions, citing agency she said, "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience.""We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission."A Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised. A future in doubt Some of NOAA's long-term, climate-focused initiatives also face he was fired, NOAA scientist Zach Labe studied using artificial intelligence to prepare for deadly heat waves. Others in his division, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, also were fired and their specialities make them difficult to replace, he said."People who were impacted were definitely the key people who were leading the development of the US weather models," Mr Labe told private sector weather companies rely on accurate NOAA and NWS data for their products."We operate on razor thin margins to keep costs low," said Ryan Hickman, owner and chief technology officer at AllisonHouse, which takes data from NOAA and other sources to create custom weather AllisonHouse, NOAA is both a data source and a Hickman was particularly worried that the agency's radar and satellite services could be impacted. "Nobody else has these satellite capabilities NOAA has," he said."Unless someone has a billion dollars to build a weather satellite and launch it into geostationary orbit, and have it sit there and read all this data, and bring it back down to Earth so that everyone else can see it and use it, then what are we doing here?"The prospect of more cuts alarms scientists and private businessmen like Mr Hickman, who believe they will strain the agency's maintenance of the complex and delicate instruments needed to produce real-time as well as future primary goal is to keep Americans informed about the future, in ways both mundane and urgent, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles."There is almost unanimous horror among people who really understand how this works," he feard some in the administration believe in a "philosophy that not only can we not plan for the future, but we also should not even try to prevent bad things from happening."Back in Florida, Mr Ripp still doesn't know what the future his brief unemployment, he explored opportunities flying for a private firefighting company – and still would not rule out leaving NOAA. He remains angry that fellow veterans were caught up in the backed Trump due to the president's commitment to the rule of law, he said, but now Mr Ripp thinks Trump is flouting the correct procedures for reducing the federal workforce."We're very good stewards of the money we're given by the government. We're not out here committing waste or anything like that," Mr Ripp said. "If you're looking for government savings, NOAA's not the place."
