MIAMI – Local 10 is examining a potential public safety alert regarding how Department of Government Efficiency staffing cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service may already be impacting the ability of federal meteorologists to accurately forecast approaching storms.
“There are all kinds of cuts going on elsewhere at NOAA that are going to degrade our ability to forecast hurricanes this year,” James Franklin, the former branch chief of the Hurricane Specialist Unit at the National Hurricane Center, said. “It looks like the Miami and Key West local weather forecast offices, for example, will be operating at only 60% capability in terms of their meteorologists.”
He added, “You are trying to decide, ‘Do I need to put up my shutters? What other kind of precautions do I need to take? Do I need to leave?’ I think you are going to see mistakes being made when you don’t have adequate people to do that work.”
Additionally, effective Thursday, another service change notice was posted on social media by terminated NOAA Physical Scientist Andy Hazelton.
“You see the spaghetti lines on the TV? That is what I do,” he said.
#ICYMI “South Florida hurricane experts warn NOAA cuts could weaken forecasting” https://t.co/a7Mo6fMj7s We have reached out to the offices of @MaElviraSalazar @RepCarlos @MarioDB @SenRickScott @SenAshleyMoody for comment pertaining to possible intersection with public safety. https://t.co/IghaNcp7ET
— Christina Boomer Vazquez, M.S. (@CBoomerVazquez) April 17, 2025
The notice says the National Weather Service may need to temporarily reduce or suspend scheduled weather balloon launches at select sites, due in part to “staffing limitations.”
The balloons measure things like pressure, temperature and relative humidity -- key components in generating computer models that forecast a storm’s path, Franklin explained.
“Imagine a hurricane is approaching through the east, through the Bahamas, and we have a trough coming off the U.S. East Coast,” he said. “The question will be, is that trough strong enough to turn that hurricane north out to sea, or will the trough miss the storm and it comes ploughing into South Florida or Texas or wherever? Not having some of these key balloon launch data into the models could cause the models to miss that interaction and lead to a very big error in a forecast in a crucial time.”
Local 10 News reached out to several Florida lawmakers regarding this issue, but none of these Republican members of the U.S. House or Senate responded to a request for comment: U.S. Senator Rick Scott, U.S. Senator Ashley Moody, Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, Rep. Carlos Gimenez or Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.
In a statement, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, a Democrat from South Florida, told Local 10 News, “These cuts don’t just slash budgets, they put lives at risk.”
Similarly, Democratic Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz said:
“So now we are not going to have good enough data to know when the hurricane is coming, and we are talking about not having FEMA assistance, so this is a double whammy.”
Moskowitz also said he is working on a bipartisan solution.
KEEPING A CLOSE WATCH
Franklin said he is also monitoring what changes may be coming to the NOAA cooperative institutes.
CIRA AND CIMS: “We have the cooperative institutes, the NOAA cooperative institutes, CIRA and CIMSS. One of the top, most important, hurricane intensity predictability prediction tools known as SHIPS is developed and maintained by one of these cooperative institutes. If that support goes away, if they are not there, something breaks with that model, we lose it, there is nobody to fix it, and it doesn’t get better next year, or the year after that. The CIMSS cooperative institute is Wisconsin, they do all sorts of satellite analysis that allow forecasts at the hurricane center estimate the structure and strength of hurricanes when the planes aren’t there. That institution goes away, and our ability to monitor storms form satellites degrades.”
THE HURRICANE RESEARCH DIVISION (HRD) IN MIAMI: “The Hurricane Research Division in Miami fly hurricane missions on the NOAA P-3’s and send back Doppler radar data that goes into the models. We may not have that now this year, that means intensity forecasts for approaching hurricanes gets worse.”
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ADVANCEMENTS IN STORM FORECASTING: “I have seen a study recently that since 2007 the improvements in hurricane forecasting saves on average $5 billion dollars for every US landfalling hurricane. We had five US land falling hurricanes last year, for one of those, the entire National Weather Service budget, that is four times the National Weather Service budge so for a tiny, tiny budget savings we are going to turn that progress off and start ticking the clock backwards, as things begin to break, as these improvements that come from hurricane research from SIMS, from CIRA, from the other parts of the Weather Service all start to degrade.”
FULL REMARKS FROM MOSKOWITZ AND WILSON
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, (D) FL – District 23: “We are talking about eliminating FEMA and eliminating NOAA. It is a double whammy. So now we are not going to have good enough data to know when the hurricane is coming, how strong they are going to be potentially, and we are talking about not having FEMA assistance so this is a double whammy to Florida which makes no sense based on the current administration, from a lot of the people who are serving in the administration are from. So look, I am working with folks in the administration right? I am not just giving criticism. I am trying to solve it with them, trying to figure out how we can reform it, how we can save it, it is bipartisan. These communities will not survive if they get hit by big hurricanes without some sort of federal assistance.”
Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson, (D) FL- District 24: “The cuts and firings at the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are outrageous and dangerous—especially for South Florida, which sits on the frontlines of hurricane season year after year. When a storm is brewing, families across our region turn to these centers and services for real-time updates, life-saving alerts, and clear guidance on how to stay safe. We’re talking about parents trying to protect their kids, small business owners securing their livelihoods, and homeowners preparing to safeguard everything they’ve worked for. These cuts don’t just slash budgets—they put lives at risk. They weaken our emergency response, undermine public safety, and leave Florida more vulnerable at the exact moment we should be strengthening our defenses. Additionally, issuing emergency weather alerts only in English puts many of our immigrant-rich communities at risk. But this administration could not care less about folks in our community. These cuts and firings are being made carelessly, with little regard for the real impact on our communities. I strongly urge the administration to reverse this decision immediately, rehire any staff who were let go, and ensure the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, and NOAA have the full support they need to keep us safe. And Congress must act immediately to hold this administration accountable and ensure all funds are delivered to NOAA, NHC, and NWS because Congress and only Congress has the power to determine the funds for each federal agency.”