The Trump administration has been cutting thousands of government employees, including meteorologists at the National Weather Service.
One of them is speaking out.
Amanda Wagner is a meteorologist and worked as a hydrologist with the Ohio River Forecast Center, a division of the National Weather Service’s Wilmington office. She used rainfall data to forecast the potential for flooding after heavy rains.
WYSO asked National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, how staffing cuts could affect the accuracy and timeliness of severe weather forecasts and alerts. The public affairs office sent a statement saying in part that they are “in the process of conducting a series of Reassignment Opportunity Notices to fill roles at NWS field locations with the greatest operational need."
They also said that some “permanent, mission-critical field positions will soon be advertised under an exception to the Department-wide hiring freeze to further stabilize frontline operations.”
Wagner told WYSO’s Mike Frazier about her concerns of the accuracy of weather forecasts in light of layoffs like hers.
Amanda Wagner: I was a National Weather Service meteorologist from 2020 to 2022. And then I took a two-year break to go to graduate school. I was hired back into the Weather Service in August 2024. And when I was hired back, I was placed in a one-year probationary period. In February, I was terminated from my job as a hydrologist. And then for a couple of months there, it was just chaotic where they didn't know if it was a mistake that I was terminated because other weather service probationary employees were not terminated, but I was. And then I was temporarily reinstated because of some lawsuits going on and then I was terminated again and it's just been this stressful chaotic couple of months since then.
Mike Frazier: What reason was given for your termination?
Wagner: Well, in the letter I first got from NOAA, it said, my skills and abilities did not fit the needs of the agency at this time. But Weather Service leadership still does not know why I was terminated and why other people were not terminated. That decision was made way higher up in the departmental level or in the...DOGE level - those decisions were made and they were completely out of the handbook my supervisors or weather service leadership.
"Just keeping communities safe, I think, could be jeopardized."
Frazier: Your supervisor had nothing to do with your termination, is that correct?
Wagner: No he didn't even know I was terminated until I told him.
Frazier: Were other employees at the local Weather Service Office let go as well, or was it just you?
Wagner: It was just me at the Wilmington, Ohio office, but in the entire National Weather Service there are about 100 probationary employees that are still terminated.
Frazier: Do you know how many vacancies are there at that office right now?
Wagner: At the Ohio River Forecast Center, there is one management vacancy and four forecaster vacancies. At the Weather Forecast Office in Wilmington, there are two management vacancies and I believe one forecaster vacancy.
Frazier: In your professional opinion, how could those vacancies affect weather forecasting for us here in southwest Ohio?
Wagner: It could affect the timeliness and the accurateness of forecasts and warnings. We need staffing to do all the things that the Weather Service does on a day-to-day basis, like forecasting and launching the weather balloon, making sure we're communicating with the public, and then in times of active weather we need even more staff to make sure that the warnings going out are accurate and timely to make sure we're communicating with the community and emergency management. Just keeping communities safe, I think, could be jeopardized.
Frazier: When forecasts are made and posted by the National Weather Service, are those forecasts composed by a computer or by a human?
Wagner: Together, it's all one. The computer is a tool that is used to put out those forecasts. So the model is run, and then the meteorologist goes in, applies their expertise, and edits the forecast, provides a discussion on what's happening meteorologically, and sends it out.
"It's not an exact science, but it's also not looking into a crystal ball and or just throwing darts at a map. It's a lot more complex than that and meteorologists are really using all of the tools and models and forecast products out there to make the best determination that they can."
Frazier: So the humans are the ones who make the final determination as to what exactly that forecast is.
Wagner: Correct.
Frazier: When weather watches are issued for the possibility of severe weather, are those watches issued by a computer or humans?
Wagner: By a human. All watches and warnings are issued by a human sitting behind a desk of a computer, monitoring the current weather situation. We have multiple people monitoring radar and making sure that that warning determination is made by not just one person, but in large weather events, like flash flood emergencies, like we saw in Texas, that decision was probably made by the entire office to put up that level of warning. So, human-driven all the way.
It's not an exact science, but it's also not looking into a crystal ball and or just throwing darts at a map. It's a lot more complex than that and meteorologists are really using all of the tools and models and forecast products out there to make the best determination that they can.
Frazier: In your professional opinion, is the National Weather Service office in Wilmington that serves southwest Ohio, are they overstaffed?
Wagner: No. They are not.
Frazier - Have you spoken with anyone at the National Weather Service since your dismissal?
Wagner: Yeah, I keep in contact with several people still from the Weather Service.
Frazier: What concerns have they expressed in regards to the staff cutbacks?
Wagner: They're concerned about having enough staff to get the forecast out in regular hours. There have been talks of cutting back hours in other offices across the country. They have been limiting weather balloon launches, which you might have heard of. And, we still have a couple more years in this administration, so who's to say there's not going to be another round of layoffs or a reduction in force?
I think the public should know that the Weather Service is not just putting out forecasts and warnings. They're boots on the ground, working with communities and emergency management, public officials, first responders to help keep communities safe. And there's so much that the weather service does that people may not know about. They have outreach events, and educational initiatives. They work in so many different programs. So I think when people think about the National Weather Service, there's a whole scope of things that they do for your community.
