Forecast failures ahead? KIRO meteorologist warns weather readings are crippled by funding cuts

Weather agencies have been taking hits financially. The Trump administration is facilitating another round of cuts for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), The Associated Press reported in March.

The recent funding cuts could lead to inaccurate forecast data, KIRO Newsradio meteorologist Ted Buehner explained on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio Friday.

“If you pull data out of the system, that means your numerical model, your forecast models going down out in the future, have less data to work with, and so that starts to lead to some inaccuracies,” Buehner said.

Buehner referenced a loss of weather balloon data, as two dozen sites across North America are not launching the balloons.

“Weather balloons are launched twice a day all around the world at the same time, and they get a vertical snapshot of what the atmosphere looks like at that location,” he shared. “I can tell you, Spokane is one of those sites that has not launched a balloon in quite some time.”

Buehner also cited Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts at the National Hurricane Center.

“They say they’re re-staffing at this point, but these are folks that are not as experienced as the ones who left,” Buehner explained. “This is true at the Storm Prediction Center and many of the other national centers across the country, with regards to that kind of an effort, so you have less expertise.”

Hurricane forecasts could be degraded, KIRO meteorologist says

Even FEMA is taking hits, as Buehner stated, 30% of staff were cut.

“What we’re starting to see is that the quality of the forecast is becoming degraded,” he said.

Buehner also mentioned that cuts at NOAA mean forecasters could underpredict the strength of a hurricane.

“There’s also a chance, because of some of these cuts, that NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft will not be able to fly this year, and with less reconnaissance missions, we may be flying blind, and we may not exactly know how strong a hurricane is before it reaches the coastline,” Buehner said.

Listen to the full conversation here.

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