Following job cuts during the Trump administration, nearly half of the National Weather Service’s forecast offices are now facing a 20% vacancy rate—double what it was just 10 years ago. This staffing shortage comes at a time when severe weather is hitting the nation’s heartland.
The data shows that out of the 122 weather field offices, eight are missing over 35% of their staff. This includes offices in Arkansas, which were impacted by tornadoes and heavy rain this week. Experts warn that vacancy rates of 20% or higher indicate critical understaffing, and 55 of the 122 sites are at this level.
These offices are responsible for issuing daily forecasts and urgent weather warnings, especially during extreme conditions like the tornadoes that claimed seven lives this week, and ongoing “catastrophic” flooding. In the past week alone, the weather service has logged at least 75 tornadoes and 1,277 severe weather reports.
Due to staffing shortages and the severity of the weather, meteorologists in the Louisville office were unable to survey tornado damage on Thursday, a task typically done immediately to improve future forecasts and warnings. Instead, they had to choose between gathering important information for future predictions and issuing warnings about immediate threats.
“It’s a crisis situation,” said Brad Colman, a former president of the American Meteorological Society and ex-meteorologist in charge of the weather service’s Seattle office. “I am deeply concerned that we will inevitably lose lives due to the added risks from this short-staffing.”
Former National Weather Service chief Louis Uccellini also expressed concern, saying that if these vacancy numbers are accurate, it’s a serious problem.
The vacancy data was gathered informally by weather service employees after the cuts initiated by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. They checked staffing levels in individual offices and compared them to past trends. While some numbers slightly varied from official sources, workers said official lists may be outdated.
