4 days ago
Hurricane Season 2025: Are forecasters ready despite budget concerns?
The Brief
The 2025 hurricane season begins this weekend, and Floridians are preparing.
The National Hurricane Center said it's ready — despite possible future federal budget cuts.
Uncertainty remains over how funding reductions could affect weather tracking tools like balloons and buoys.
TAMPA, Fla. - The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said it's fully staffed and ready for the 2025 hurricane season, which officially kicks off on June 1.
What we know
Deputy Director Jamie Rhome told FOX 13 that they have the personnel needed to cover all operational shifts and have made strategic adjustments to maintain accurate storm forecasting.
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Critical data for hurricane tracking comes from weather balloons, ocean buoys and hurricane aircraft, all of which feed key information into weather models.
What we don't know
While the NHC said it's ready for this season, there's uncertainty about the longer-term effects of federal budget cuts. A proposed 27% reduction — more than $1.5 billion — to NOAA's budget could impact future staffing and equipment use, but how exactly this will play out isn't fully clear yet.
What they're saying
FOX 13 Chief Meteorologist Paul Dellegatto underscored the importance of these weather tools.
READ: Advanced technology will help Manatee County during 2025 Hurricane Season
"The buoy data is critical, because we're getting information about all of the water that surrounds us — the Gulf, the Caribbean, the Atlantic," he said. "The water temperature, the wave heights — critical. Now, balloons are really important. They measure wind speeds and all of the weather above us, and all of that data ends up going into the weather models."
Rhome assured: "If you take one observation away or one is unrepaired for a little bit of time, it's not like a house of cards comes down. There are other observations that we can lean on."
The Source
This reporting is based on interviews conducted with Jamie Rhome, the deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, and FOX 13 Chief Meteorologist Paul Dellegatto.
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