Story::: A former NOAA chief says the United States has compromised its ability to predict weather afterwards
:: July 5, 2025
::Virginia Falls Church
:: Rick Spinrad, former executive officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
“Now, many of the weather forecast offices aren’t fully replenishing staff, which means you do put an extra burden on these people. I don’t know that this is a factor in what’s going on in Texas this weekend.”
::Kelville, Texas
“If there is no research, no people can do the work, we can assume these predictions, not just hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, wildfires, tsunamis, because that thing will undoubtedly be downgraded. This means that people's ability to prepare for these storms will be compromised…”
::Georgetown, Texas
:: Adam Grumbo
“Pick your favorite football team… Now imagine, the team instead of 11 players, there are 8 players. No matter how good they are. They can't do the job of the entire team. That's what happened to NOAA. These are outstanding scientists, great technicians, great technicians, great policy figures, but if we don't have enough work, then drop the table and land on the table.”
According to Spinrad, the Trump administration has laid off thousands of jobs from NOAA, the parent company of the National Weather Service, leaving many understaffed.
He said he didn't know if the staff cut the lack of early warnings for extreme floods in Texas, but they said they inevitably reduce the agency's ability to provide accurate and timely forecasts.
