National Weather Service hiring again following layoffs

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The National Weather Service is offering some reassurance amid cuts from the federal government. The local office tells WGNO it shouldn’t affect its operations this hurricane season.

“Even with their shortage of manpower, the Weather Service is doing everything they can to maintain the quality of their forecast,” said Louisiana State Climatologist Jay Grymes.

Just months after nearly 600 people were laid off at the National Weather Service, it was announced that over 100 jobs would be returning.

Grymes says even though it could take weeks or even months to fill the roles, he is thankful that cuts in Louisiana were not drastic.

“I don’t expect to see much of a change in terms of manpower. We did pretty well on the front end in terms of that big reduction in force. I don’t think we’ll see huge impacts in terms of National Weather Service services for Louisiana through the hurricane season,” said Grymes.

Across the country, weather balloons are being released to gather information.

“The whole point of doing two a day was to get the best picture possible in an economic and efficient way,” said Grymes.

Although two are launched per day in Louisiana, Grymes says much of our state’s weather starts in the west and northwest.

These are places where cuts have caused offices to launch one balloon daily.

Grymes explains only time will tell how this could affect forecasts.

“Reducing the number of observations in the mid-levels of the atmosphere, it’s going to bring the skill, the accuracy of the forecast down. What we can’t say right now is how much it’s going to bring that down,” said Grymes.

Previously, in Louisiana, radars have gone down, which is why Grymes says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration checks them periodically, especially during hurricane season.

“They require, maintenance on a regular schedule, and then occasionally the radar will break down. Well, there is a unique group of electronic specialists in NOAA that handles that,” said Grymes.

With an above-normal hurricane season ahead, Grymes and WGNO meteorologist Carrigan Chauvin say that even with the cuts, viewers can count on them.

“We have to be constantly communicating back and forth with each other to be able to provide the necessary key points to viewers, to residents, for what they need to know about storms on the way and, we have the manpower to forecast properly and to adapt properly to different circumstances and as a whole,” said Chauvin.

Grymes says if you truly want to be prepared this hurricane season, make sure you have a plan for your family ahead of time.

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