Short-staffed National Weather Service field offices will be given special temporary authority to bring in additional staff following cuts that have limited their capacity to launch weather balloons, Nebraska Rep. Mike Flood told Agri-Pulse Friday.
Flood, a Republican, said in an interview that weather offices across the country struggling with low staffing levels will be given immediate, short-term authority, to bring in temporary support to help out. He also said those offices could see permanent employees hired in the long term.
Earlier Friday, Flood announced in a visit to the Omaha field office that he had secured a promise from National Weather Service officials for additional staff there, so it could continue to allow two-a-day weather balloon launches. Leaders of the office will then "reassess and see what their staffing needs are," before being given authority to "hire on a permanent basis, long-term, as the situation dictates."
Resumption of balloon launches at the Omaha site should come just in time for tornado season, he added.
"We've got such diverse, dangerous weather and we've seen so many dangerous weather events lately, it just makes sense that we get on top of this," Flood said.
Flood also said in the interview that other offices would receive staffing boosts.
"I received a call last Friday that because of our efforts, they were going to restaff up the Omaha office so that they could do two weather balloons a day," Flood said. "And then I was able to confirm yesterday that across the nation, because of our advocacy, weather offices are being given special temporary authority to immediately hire next week more forecasters to make sure these weather balloons are going up, and that long term, there's going to be a plan to make these temporary hires permanent, which will help as needed in offices that are facing staffing shortages to ensure that the weather balloons are up and that we are doing everything in our power to get the right data pushed into those weather models."
Due to low staffing, the NWS has suspended weather balloon operations at Kotzebue, Alaska; Omaha, and Rapid City, South Dakota, according to NWS notices. Launches have been reduced to one per day in Aberdeen, South Dakota; Grand Junction, Colorado; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Gaylord, Michigan; North Platte, Nebraska; and Riverton, Wyoming, according to the notices
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Staff in Albany, New York, and Gray, Maine, have been trying to continue launching two balloons per day when possible, but warned in a notice that they may not be able to do that.
Weather balloons are among the most reliable methods for collecting weather data, with the ability to float into parts of the stratosphere that are otherwise hard for scientists to reach and gauge temperature, pressure, elevation and wind speeds. But they often require two or more people to operate.
Flood said he received a call from the White House about the hiring authority last Friday and said he was able to confirm yesterday that it was "going to alleviate the pressure and get the balloons back up." He also said he was assured "there was a long-term plan to make sure there was staffing" in the offices.
Flood also said he plans to introduce a bill next month to reclassify National Weather Service meteorologists as public safety.employees, a title that would provide them some protection from reduction efforts.
"Had that classification been in place," Flood said, "we probably wouldn't be in this situation right now."
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