"Key California weather forecast offices will remain “criminally understaffed” while new hires get on board, former NWS meteorologists warn."
"The National Weather Service plans to hire 450 meteorologists, hydrologists and radar technicians in an attempt to undo some of the impacts of mass layoffs the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency initiated several months ago. The hiring plan includes 126 “front-line mission critical” personnel to fill the gap left by staff reductions at weather service forecast offices around the country, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official told CNN in early August.
But those new hires won’t be in place in time for wildfire season, which is expected to be more intense than usual this year from August through October. That’s because it takes at least 11 months to train new staffers and get them placed, according to former NWS meteorologists.
“It takes 11 to 14 months to onboard somebody,” Tom Fahy, legislative director of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, the union that represents the agency’s workers, as well as other units of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told Capital & Main."
Marcus Baram reports for Capital & Main August 8, 2025.
SEE ALSO:
"Private Companies Are Now Gathering Weather Data for NOAA" (WIRED)
Advertisement 
