Topic: NOAA

[K2GW]

NWS is important but not everything NOAA does is absolutely needed.  Unfortunately, the administrators of NOAA have had the ability to apply the scalpel approach on their own to reduce expense for decades, but chose not to, and thus have now incurred the outside axe approach.

I didn't vote for Trump, but I have for decades watched the inevitable expansion of government bloat and waste of taxpayer funds.

Unlike the private sector where the "nice to have" but unnecessary tasks are eliminated with 10 percent reductions every recession, government never goes through that as its managers always tend to increase staff  and budget so they can qualify for the better pay of a higher GS level. So this initiative is long overdue.

Look up "Parkinson's Law" which I studied as an undergrad to understand why such budget creep inevitably occurs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law

And then study the "Washington Monument Syndrome" for why cuts are always at the local offices instead of the Department of Commerce Executive offices:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument_syndrome

[hofpwx]

 NOAA is being bludgeoned for ideological reasons.

[SoMDWx]

Say that enough and you start believing it...

[hofpwx]

Say that enough and you start believing it...

This place doesn’t like NOAA for some unfathomable reason.

[SoMDWx]

Not true. We just don't like bloat and waste...And that is a notorious feature of the Federal Gov't....

[hofpwx]

Not true. We just don't like bloat and waste...And that is a notorious feature of the Federal Gov't....

The bloat and waste in other agencies are greater than NOAA’s entire budget.

[SterlingVASPC]

that's because NOAA was left in the dust after Trump became presiden\

[ocala]

NWS is important but not everything NOAA does is absolutely needed.  Unfortunately, the administrators of NOAA have had the ability to apply the scalpel approach on their own to reduce expense for decades, but chose not to, and thus have now incurred the outside axe approach.

I didn't vote for Trump, but I have for decades watched the inevitable expansion of government bloat and waste of taxpayer funds.

Unlike the private sector where the "nice to have" but unnecessary tasks are eliminated with 10 percent reductions every recession, government never goes through that as its managers always tend to increase staff  and budget so they can qualify for the better pay of a higher GS level. So this initiative is long overdue.

Look up "Parkinson's Law" which I studied as an undergrad to understand why such budget creep inevitably occurs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law

And then study the "Washington Monument Syndrome" for why cuts are always at the local offices instead of the Department of Commerce Executive offices:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument_syndrome

I will grudgingly agree that maybe not everything NOAA puts out is necessary but  I am not a MET. I don't know what this data is used for but I assume mets use it for daily, longterm, and severe weather events. I have an app called Wx. It covers everything that the NWS puts out. It's incredible the amount of reports that are available.
If there any current or former mets in this group could you chime in with your perspective on the amount of data this is publicly available and what its used for.   

[ocala]

Playing with fire.
https://www.kqed.org/news/12033338/bay-area-air-traffic-control-is-down-to-1-meteorologist-after-trumps-hiring-freeze

[hofpwx]

https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2025/04/ending-cooperative-agreements-funding-princeton-university

[hofpwx]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/climate/noaa-research-budget-cuts.html

Trump administration officials are recommending the elimination of the scientific research division at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times and several people with knowledge of the situation.

The proposal from the Office of Management and Budget would abolish the Oceanic and Atmospheric Research office at NOAA, one of the world’s premiere Earth sciences research centers.

A budget allocation of just over $170 million, down from about $485 million in 2024, would hobble science as varied as early warning systems for natural disasters, science education for students in kindergarten through high school, and the study of the Arctic, where temperatures have increased nearly four times as fast as the rest of the planet over the past four decades.

“At this funding level, O.A.R. is eliminated as a line office,” the proposal states.

Programs that retained funding, including research into tornado warnings and ocean acidification, would be relocated to the National Weather Service and National Ocean Service offices.

[SoMDWx]

And the point of showing all of this?????

[hofpwx]

And the point of showing all of this?????

Just information about the agency most relevant to weather. Apologies if you’re bothered.

[SoMDWx]

Some are just tired of posts with overt political overtones....

[broadstairs]

Some are just tired of posts with overt political overtones....

I think the majority of the comments are useful for non USA folks to keep abreast of what goes on and people's views on it all after all it does affect people in other countries.

Stuart

[hofpwx]

Some are just tired of posts with overt political overtones....

NOAA's budget and operations are being strongly cut back by the current administration. That's just relevant news.

[SoMDWx]

 

[Tln7559]

The statement by broadstairs in Reply #64 is correct.

Outside Europe we might not directly be hit by the reorqanisation at NOAA/NWS, but it might in the background have unseen, practical side-effects outside the USA.
As example, yesterday in dutch news that the meteo-organisations, universities etc. in Europe are trying to backup as much as possible of information presently shared by&with US-organisations, to save it before it is destroyed or becomes unaccessible, because the custodian-organisation at US-side has been disabled or threatened to be disabled (either by POCs fired, lockout of outsiders due to political decisions, or completely eliminated). Loss of info often implies loss of context for other info; also info could be important as historic reference.

[ocala]

Some are just tired of posts with overt political overtones....

Jim of course it's going to have political overtones. The current administration is the one cutting the funding.
How do we discuss these cuts and what implications they might have without bringing up specific links to what's being cut?