Hurricane season begins June 1. But the National Weather Service faces serious staffing challenges. Since the start of President Trump’s second term, nearly 1,000 employees have left. And that is leaving key offices understaffed in cities like Lake Charles, Houston, and Tampa.
That’s the word from LSU Public Health Climatologist Barry Keim. As the Louisiana Radio Network reports, Keim warns that this could delay critical weather alerts or spread inaccurate information. “There’s already some suggestion that the forecasting is not as good as it was just several weeks ago just because of all the budget cuts and the lack of data that is going in to inform those models.”
Keim warns that reduced staffing threatens accurate forecasting and the delivery of essential data. This could result in less accurate hurricane forecasts and increased danger for Americans. “There’s a whole host of issues that just seem to be piling up. It’s really a shame as to the situation we find ourselves in right now, given all these budget cuts.”
Impacts of lesser quality forecasts could also affect sectors like transportation, energy and even national defense, as military operations rely on timely weather data. Keim says with these staffing issues, there will likely be a serious decline in innovations with products like the cone of uncertainty and predict rapid intensification in research labs. “And with these hits particularly hard, that innovation is getting slowed down or even ceases until things get turned around.” Despite these concerns, the Trump administration continues its push to cut non-discretionary government spending.
Researchers predicting well above-average 2025 Atlantic hurricane season
Colorado State University hurricane researchers are predicting an active Atlantic hurricane season in their initial 2025 forecast. The team cites record warm tropical and eastern subtropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures as a primary factor for their prediction of 11 hurricanes this year.
