Cuts did not affect Kentucky NWS warnings during deadly storms, officials say

LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Officials are hoping to set the record straight that, despite recent cuts, the National Weather Service was not hindered from forecasting this weekend’s deadly storms.

Political takes have picked up traction on social media, suggesting NWS gave a late warning or even no warning at all for this weekend’s deadly storms.

“We issued warnings at 10:30. That was the first warning,” NWS Jackson Science and Operations Officer Dustin Jordan told FOX 56 News.

Jordan was able to confirm that the NWS issued a warning for the Somerset area with about 28 minutes of lead time, and for London, it was 40 minutes.

“It’s actually really, really good. In terms of warning operations and being able to issue that well ahead of the time of that tornado striking portions of our area,” Jordan said.

The New York Times reported last week that the Jackson office was one of four in the country that no longer had a permanent overnight forecaster due to DOGE cuts. Jordan was unable to comment on staffing, but an NOAA spokesperson said, “In the near term, NWS has updated the service level standards for its weather forecast offices to manage impacts due to shifting personnel resources. These revised standards reflect the transformation and prioritization of mission-essential operations while supporting the balance of the operational workload for its workforce.”

Gov. Andy Beshear has echoed in multiple storm briefings that the advance notice of impending bad weather gave enough time to bring in extra staffing during the event.  

“Well, we got a heads-up that we would have a bad weather system. Just like we have a heads-up that one is coming in now. I don’t think staffing concerns caused an issue in our preparation for this one,” he said at a briefing in London on Tuesday.

Beshear said while he is concerned about 24/7 coverage in the future, in this instance, it was not a problem.