Hundreds of weather forecasters fired by DOGE: ‘It’s going to cripple’ the weather service
Feb 28, 2025, 8:53 AM
The National Weather Service monitoring station seen in Brownville, Texas. (Photo courtesy of The Associated Press)
(Photo courtesy of The Associated Press)
Hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employees on probationary status were fired Thursday, lawmakers and weather experts confirmed.
Cuts at NOAA appeared to be happening in two rounds, one of 500 and one of 800, said Craig McLean, a former NOAA chief scientist who said he got the information from someone with first-hand knowledge. That’s approximately 10% of NOAA’s workforce.
KIRO Newsradio meteorologist Ted Buehner stated the employees of the now-fired probationary staff weren’t all meteorologists, but technicians who operate and manage Doppler weather radar, the NOAA weather radio network, which is part of the Emergency Alert System, and surface observation systems.
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“These are folks that just take care of a lot of different environmental things that we all deal with every day,” KIRO Newsradio meteorologist Ted Buehner said on Seattle’s Morning News. “There are about 12,000 total employees across the nation, and here in the Seattle area, we have close to 1,000 of them, so quite a few folks that are right here in our area.”
Federal workers who were not let go said the afternoon layoffs included meteorologists who do crucial local forecasts in National Weather Service offices across the country.
The firings come amid efforts by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to shrink a federal workforce that President Donald Trump has called bloated and sloppy. Thousands of probationary employees across the government have already been fired.
“The mission of the National Weather Service is protection of life and property through weather and flood watches, warnings and advisories,” Buehner said. “For instance, this past weekend and early this week, we were talking about strong winds in this area. We had that bomb cyclone last November and recent flooding over on the Skokomish River. These are just a few examples.
“On top of that,” Buehner continued, “if you look at the economic statistics from congressional studies, every dollar that Congress spends on the National Weather Service returns $10 to the nation’s economy.”
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Many state representatives and climate scientists have vocalized their opposition to this decision, calling it “short-sighted” and ultimately a “major self-inflicted wound to public safety.”
“What is the potential fallout from this with the weather service and with NOAA getting really hammered with layoffs?” Seattle’s Morning News host Charlie Harger asked.
“I can speak for the National Weather Service. I really shouldn’t speak for the other components of NOAA, but here’s the thing, it’s going to cripple the ability for the National Weather Service to be able to perform its primary mission of protecting lives and property, and that is what all of us need to be concerned about,” Buehner said.
Listen to the entire conversation here:
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.
