National Weather Service Suspends ‘Vital’ NY Weather Monitoring After Trump’s Staffing Cuts

Weather forecasts could become less accurate in New York after the National Weather Service recently halted a weather balloon launch in Albany, putting farmers and other industries that rely on weather data at risk, according to climate scientists.

The NWS announced last week that it is “temporarily suspending” weather balloon launches in New York’s capital city due to a lack of staffing, halting the collection of key weather data from the upper atmosphere. The agency has also recently suspended weather balloon launches in Maine and Alaska due to staffing shortages.

The suspensions come after the Trump administration called for staffing cuts across the government to eliminate “waste, bloat, and insularity.” The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, which runs the NWS, fired at least 800 workers last month, with 1,000 more cuts expected, according to the Associated Press.

The NWS launches balloons at around 90 locations nationwide, according to the agency. Weather balloons are attached to monitoring devices called radiosondes, which collect data like temperature and humidity, and send that information back to scientists on the ground to inform weather forecasts.

Without that data, climate scientists say weather forecasts in New York will likely become less reliable.

“That data from the upper atmosphere is absolutely vital to the quality and the accuracy of our weather forecasts,” said Toby Ault, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University. “Without it, we would expect to see less accurate, less reliable weather forecasts.”

In a statement, a NOAA spokesperson said the agency does not discuss personnel matters and could not speculate on future impacts of layoffs. “Regarding weather balloons, the more data we feed into our weather models, the more accurate our forecasts,” the spokesperson added.

Most New Yorkers use data from the NWS when they check the weather on an app on their phone or online, Ault said. Reliable forecasts are even more vital for some industries, like aviation and agriculture, that rely on weather data being as accurate as possible to ensure they can function safely and efficiently.

In upstate New York, where agriculture is a major industry, unreliable NWS data could deal a blow to the economy.

“There’s a lot at stake,” said Ault. “Especially this time of year as we move into the spring [and] summer seasons, for planting, for getting out into the field, for knowing when conditions are going to be right to be able to harvest.”

Accurate weather data also plays a key role keeping New Yorkers safe during extreme weather, like the series of tornadoes that crossed the state last year, Ault said. Fewer NWS staff could mean slower emergency response times, putting people at risk.

“We’re not necessarily going to get that heads up of the dangers as they unfold,” said Ault. “And we’re not going to get them with as much lead time or as much advance notice.”

In addition to the suspension of the balloon launch in Albany, NOAA has also recently cut staffing at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, which monitors the health of the Great Lakes watershed.

In response to the cuts, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York called on the federal government to restore and maintain weather data collection in the state.

“‘These tools are how Upstate NY families get weather reports on a daily basis, how communities get emergency alerts, it is how we know if a snowstorm is going to drop two inches or two feet overnight,” said Schumer in a statement Wednesday. “I’m demanding any and all cut services be immediately restored.”

Schumer said the full extent of the impact of NOAA cuts in New York remains unclear. In a letter to the agency’s acting administrator, Vice Adm. Nancy Hann, he called for clear answers on the extent of the cuts and a plan for rehiring staff.

“The safety of our communities during the next storm depends on it,” Schumer said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from NOAA.

Story by Rebecca Redelmeier/New York Public News Network

Image: Climate scientists use weather balloons to capture data from the upper atmosphere. The National Weather Service recently suspended a weather balloon launch in Albany, NY. (Credit: Theo Stein/NOAA)