Five former National Weather Service directors warned Friday that more Americans will suffer death, injury and property losses from severe weather if the Trump administration continues to slash NWS staff and budgets.
In an open letter, the directors who served under Republican and Democratic administrations dating to 1988 said a diminished weather service “will have an impossible task to continue its current level of services,” resulting in less timely, less reliable and less comprehensive forecasts.
In addition to the loss of meteorologists and staff at 122 forecasting offices around the country, the directors said critical weather monitoring equipment and NEXRAD radar systems will face more frequent and longer outages because NWS will have fewer technicians to maintain and repair equipment.
“Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life. We know that’s a nightmare shared by those on the forecasting front lines — and by the people who depend on their efforts,” the directors said.
