Severe Weather Risks Rise as Nearly Half of U.S. Weather Offices Face Critical Staffing Shortages

A growing shortage of staff at National Weather Service (NWS) forecasting offices is giving cause for concern across the United States, especially as the country faces more threats from tornadoes, flooding, fires, and other severe weather events. According to internal data reviewed by the Associated Press, nearly half of the 122 weather forecasting offices across the country have vacancy rates of 20% or higher. Those shortages are being classified as critical because they hinder the ability of meteorologists to issue on-time and accurate weather warnings. The information, based on a crowd-sourced compilation by NWS employees, shows eight offices with over 35% of the posts vacant.

Among them is greater than one office in communities just ravaged by tornadoes and rainstorms, such as Arkansas. These offices, besides issuing forecasts of daily weather, are also tasked with providing real-time warning during storms that can literally prove to be the difference between life and death. To date, this week alone, the weather service has been tracking at least 75 tornadoes and in excess of 1,200 severe weather incidents. In some other regions, the lack of personnel has already begun to influence operations.

The NWS office in Louisville, Kentucky, as an example, reported that it was unable to perform damage surveys following recent tornadoes due to a shortage of personnel. Surveys help improve future warnings and forecasts with increased accuracy. Personnel had to decide between issuing real-time warnings or undertaking the necessary assessments, causing prevention and analysis gaps. The staffing shortage has grown exponentially over the past decade. In 2015, the overall vacancy rate in the weather service was around 9.3%. By March of 2025, that number had risen to 19%, doubling in just 10 years. These shortages are largely the direct result of past budget cuts and hiring slowdowns, particularly during the Trump administration under the Department of Government Efficiency.

A closer examination of the statistics indicates the issue crosses northern and southern areas of the country.

Rapid City, South Dakota offices (41.7% vacant), Albany, New York (25%), Portland, Maine (26.1%), and Omaha, Nebraska (34.8%) offices have lost so many employees that they've had to cut back on the number of weather balloons they release, which are vital upper-atmosphere readings for predicting. Meanwhile, the Houston office with its 30% vacancy rate against it is currently short its meteorologist-in-charge and its warning coordination meteorologist. The effects of these shortages go beyond forecasting. Offices lack personnel in essential leadership and coordination positions. Twenty-three offices are short their meteorologist-in-charge, and 16 offices lack a warning coordination meteorologist. These people are crucial for coordinating the personnel and getting emergency services and the public into the field with sufficient warnings prior to a disaster happening.

The vacancy data were collected unofficially by alarmed weather service employees, who took lengthy records of staff numbers by region and office. The Associated Press, having obtained the data from a party outside the NWS, verified the data by cross-checking online staff directories and contacting local offices directly. There were some discrepancies between the unofficial data and NWS websites, though, workers said, adding that online listings are often outdated.

In Congress, too, the issue has been highlighted by lawmakers who have questioned and authenticated the understaffing by way of their own probes. Even as there are some offices functioning well below capacity, however, experts agree that these numbers paint a picture of a larger problem, a systemic one that might compromise the country's ability to prepare and respond to intense weather events.

The under-staffing comes at a time when climate change is causing an increase in extreme weather events that happen more frequently and with increased severity. Spring and summer pose additional risk from tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and heat extremes, which means it's a particularly hazardous period for the forecast offices to be under-manned and equipment slowed in repairs. With staffs not properly maintained and repair delays to radar systems and communication infrastructure, the ability to watch over and act in response to the threats from the weather decreases.

While the majority of NWS employees remain working in tension to provide lifesaving warnings, the combined impact of ongoing vacancies will be to increase delays, reduce coverage areas, and strain thin remaining staff. Even the bare-bones field office operations such as phone-based weather reports, radar interpretation, and forecast issuance are all suffering from the lack of hands on deck.

Some of the offices that were hit hardest have also been responsible for reporting on high-impact weather stories during the course of the year. Memphis and Louisville, where vacancy rates are particularly high, were central to managing communications during the recent spate of deadly tornado outbreaks in the area.

The forecast is even more troubling as the nation heads into its season of extreme weather. With wildfire threats increasing in the western states, hurricane threats increasing along the coasts, and lethal heat waves expected in much of the country, the lack of sufficient staffing in some of the NWS offices poses a threat to the nation.

The National Weather Service would not confirm this on an immediate basis. The AP later made minor adjustments to the information's accuracy, including the correct 29.2% vacancy rate for the Louisville office, which is not greater than 35% as reported.

This situation calls for immediate federal investment in public weather infrastructure. Having the National Weather Service properly staffed and equipped is not only crucial to scientific accuracy, but to public safety as well. As environmental threats grow, so should the ability of the agencies responsible for confronting them.

Source: The Associated Press