Breaking News: NWS Goodland Office Is (Temporarily) Not Staffed 24/7

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NWS Office in Goodland, Kansas
Since the National Weather Service's Reorganization in the early 1992, their field office meteorologists have often worked beyond the call of duty during hurricanes, blizzards, ice storms and other long-duration extreme weather events. During Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, meteorologists (and some of their families) "moved into" the New Orleans office and worked extraordinary hours performing their mission for more than a week.

But, the mess in NOAA/NWS -- where the Senate won't seem to take up the nomination of Dr. Neil Jacobs as head of NOAA -- has resulted in an exodus of meteorologists on April 30, when "retirements" and buyouts became effective, has left some offices desperately short-handed. As a result, for the time-being, the NWS office in Goodland, Kansas (GLD) is not staffed 24/7! There may be other offices that are now not 24/7, as well. 

I have confirmed from two sources GLD is not staffed from 2am until 7am local [Mountain] time. During those hours, another office watches GLD's "county warning area" and will issue warnings as needed. If tornadoes or severe thunderstorms are in progress at 2am, the person or persons on duty will stay until they end or more out of GLD warning area. However, this is hardly an ideal solution. NWS offices can only stretch so far. I'm told it will return to 24/7 when the open positions thee get filled. 

While part of the problem is inconsistent guidance from President Trump's administration, part of the problem is the culture of the NWS management which often exhibits a low sense of urgency. Meteorologist openings frequently go months, sometimes more than six, without being filled. 

The cutting of hours at the GLD office isn't just bad for the NWS, it is potentially bad for the people of eastern Colorado, northwest Kansas and southwest Nebraska. It is also bad in that it sets a precedent.

Before Members of the U.S. Senate point fingers at President Trump, they need to confirm Dr. Neil Jacobs -- an excellent candidate -- as Administrator of NOAA.  He and the Department of Commerce can determine whether a new reorganization is needed and/or another long-term plan. But, the ad hoc reactive closings are not acceptable. 

The loss of some NOAA research, which -- other than hurricanes is hardly crippling. Traditionally, it has suffered from low productivity and a low sense of urgency. Universities often conduct redundant research and often do it better. The savings from closing parts of NOAA research should go into the NWS which saved lives and mitigates property loss. 

Comments

  1. Bill EckrichMay 2, 2025 at 11:53 PM

    Not to mention 30 WFOs apparently lack an MIC and 90 vacancies nationwide for techs who repair WSR-88D radars and ASOS sites under NWS purview per this article:
    https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/02/weather/nws-forecasting-layoffs-trump

    This has got to be unprecedented and many levels.

    ReplyDelete

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