National Weather Service to Hire 126 Staff After Job Cuts Amid Hurricane Season

MIAMI — Following significant job cuts, the National Weather Service (NWS) has announced plans to hire 126 new employees to stabilize operations nationwide. The decision comes after the Trump administration eliminated over 500 positions earlier this year.

The new hires will include meteorologists, hydrologists, physical scientists, and electronic technicians, according to Erica Grow Cei, a spokesperson for the NWS. “These positions will fill the greatest operational needs at our field offices,” she said.

Tom Fahy, legislative director for the union representing NWS employees, emphasized the critical nature of the electronic technician roles, which are essential for maintaining and repairing weather radar systems. “Radar is crucial for protecting Americans from severe weather,” he noted.

Due to the cuts, some NWS offices could not maintain 24-hour operations or reduced their weather balloon launches—important for data collection used in forecasts. Mary Glackin, a former undersecretary at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), described the staffing shortages as a strain on the system, especially with the hurricane season starting.

“We’re in the middle of a severe weather season, and it’s not good to be understaffed,” Glackin explained. She stated that recruitment could take months, projecting that many positions might not be filled until September.

The NWS has received temporary approval to bypass a government-wide hiring freeze, allowing it to begin advertising for these crucial positions immediately. The authority to hire emerged amid concerns about the agency’s preparedness for hurricane season and deficiencies in warning systems during recent deadly storms across the Midwest and South.

Fahy expressed hope that many terminated NWS employees may reapply for these positions due to their prior training and certification. However, even with the new hires, the NWS will remain several hundred employees short compared to pre-cuts staffing levels.

Overall, while the NWS’s recent authorization to hire is a positive step, industry experts caution that it is only a partial remedy to a larger staffing crisis across the agency.