This posting is primarily for people in the field of atmospheric science. A popular weather blog opened yesterday with news of a lawsuit where a taxpayer-funded organization called the "University Corporation for Atmospheric Research" (a/k/a UCAR, a Washington, DC consortium of colleges with meteorology and similar programs) is using taxpayer dollars to sue other taxpayer supported organizations because the Trump Administration wishes to close the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and distribute its programs to other research institutions. UCAR claims that defunding NCAR "violates the Constitution" and doing so will, among other things, harm the U.S. "national security." As I was writing this, a second blog weighed in making similar points .  Meteorology is tiny profession (per Grok, in 2024 there were 9,400 practicing meteorologists in the United States) which is of  far, far greater importance than its numbers would suggest . [I check...

Thursday, the New York Times published a story (headline above) last week regarding the potential for more layoffs at FEMA. The problem with the story is that is does not describe the future mission of FEMA and that is likely because Homeland Security Secretary Noem has not fully defined it. There is a lot of talk about giving more power and responsibilities to the states (which I support). I also support a slimmed down FEMA that primarily works as a logistics facilitator combined with channeling federal assistance. The current "boots on the ground" mission of FEMA has failed almost every time it has been needed for the past 30+ years .  There are concerns , for example, that states will not have the money or expertise to handle major disasters. While valid, a number of FEMA programs to mitigate future disaster costs have been little more than political slush funds . Clearly, these have to be fixed in any reorganization or re-mission.  One of the things that has been almost ...

NCAR's headquarters on Table Mesa near Boulder, Colorado. Courtesy of Dr. Roger Pielke, Jr.  The Trump Administration has proposed to shut down National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) located in the Rocky Mountain foothills (specifically, Table Mesa) near Boulder, Colorado. The usual suspects are furious or think it is "past time." The issue, as I see it, is that NCAR was originally set up to be the nation's premier institution of applied  meteorological research:   thunderstorm safety, and that type of thing. Unfortunately, just a few years after its creation, it was "captured" by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) -- which changed its focus that atmospheric scientists call "basic" research. An example was (and this is real) how much carbon dioxide is released every time a bee farts?  While there is nothing wrong with basic research, we have an imbalance in the U.S. where too much tax money goes to basic research a...

The latest news from Washington has the Trump Administration's budget calling for huge cuts in NOAA's research arm, Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research (OAR), by 74%.  Before going farther, there is no way this will get through Congress and a compromise will be reached. Unfortunately, the usual suspects are overstating the problem. See below: I intentionally left off the author's names This is absolutely untrue. Even if OAR were eliminated, it would have zero effect on current forecast and warning accuracy. Zero. It is true the loss of OAR might affect future forecasts but not now.  In addition to the budget cuts, the National Weather Service's Space Weather Program, which monitors for solar flares and other occurrences that could seriously disrupt life on earth, is proposed to move to Homeland Security (DHS). I have very mixed feelings about this: because a serious electromagnetic pulse (EMP) could take us back to the late 1800's (without late 1800's i...

The amount of garbage being written the last 36 hours regarding the National Weather Service (NWS) would overflow 50 landfills. I would like to clarify all of this so that reasonable decisions, consistent with the public good, can be made. Mr. Ramsey is entitled to his opinion but nothing that has occurred, so far, will prevent the NWS from issuing tornado (and other) warnings of the quality (not very good) that they were issuing last week and last year.  When I've been around Al, he seems like a nice guy but isn't a  meteorologist nor an expert as to how all of this works.  NOAA? Lots to Cut                          Before going further: the parent agency of the NWS, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is loaded with fat and with money being spent on things outside of its mission.  Example from this week: The grants to Ocean Conservancy came from NOAA.  In additio...