This isn't a good idea at all. Closing offices and removing people who are familiar with the weather patterns, microclimates, etc. of the their respective offices is NOT the way save money, let alone let a computer do the forecasting from 3,000+ miles away. This action will definitely costs lives.
Evidently, they have forgotten about the last time they "consolidated" offices back in the mid 90's. The NWS closed the Fort Smith, AR office, including the radar (was not a Doppler) based there and consolidated its responsibility to the Tulsa office. On April 21st, 1996, about at around 11:10 pm, a supercell developed a tornado just west of the AR/OK state line and moved northeast into the Fort Smith/Van Buren area. It was 1/2 mile wide, and was rated an F3. The Tulsa office issued a Tornado Warning 4 minutes before the tornado struck, but the Emergency Managers did not get the warning because downed telephone lines. Two people were killed in Fort Smith and 1,800 houses were destroyed. The Tulsa NWS radars' beam could only "see" down to around 2700 ft above the ground and could not see the true intensity of the tornado. Because of Legislative influence, the NWS installed a Doppler in Fort Smith.
John
