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Lawmakers press Commerce on National Weather Service staffing and experimental AI forecasting
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Summary
Members raised concerns about staff departures at the National Weather Service and asked how NOAA and Commerce will maintain forecast operations and expand experimental AI forecasting and modernization of local forecast offices.
Members of the Appropriations subcommittee pressed Secretary Lutnick about staffing and operational capacity at the National Weather Service (NWS) and NOAAregional forecast offices after testimony and public reporting alleging recent departures and operational disruptions.
Ranking Member Meng and other members cited news reports and a letter from five former NWS directors warning that staffing losses could "make it impossible" for the service to maintain current levels of service. "Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life," Meng read during questioning. Representative Rogers described recent local losses during floods and tornadoes in Kentucky.
Secretary Lutnick responded that the department's weather collection systems remain operational and that, in his account, "the National Weather Service employs 2,100 meteorologists" and "less than 5% chose to retire." He said the department had authority and plans to hire replacements and to modernize forecasts by automating legacy local systems and moving data and forecasting capacity to cloud-based, centralized systems. "We're going to automate that, to put it on the cloud so that the 2,100 meteorologists we have and the hundreds of hydrologists that we have can forecast the weather from central locations and back up each other," Lutnick said. He also described planned deployments of small aircraft, drones and underwater gliders for research and an experimental AI-based forecast system whose data the department said it will make public.
Why it matters: Local forecast offices issue warnings that communities rely on for life-safety decisions. Members emphasized concern about immediate readiness during hurricane and wildfire seasons and sought statistics and documentation about retirements, vacancies and rehiring timelines.
Clarifying points and numbers discussed at the hearing: - NWS staffing cited by the secretary: roughly 2,100 meteorologists; less than 5% early retirement (per Lutnick). - NWS reportedly received authority to hire 26 new employees (per testimony), but committee members pressed that this number is short of losses since February. - Planned operational changes include additional automated systems, AI experimental forecasting, new unmanned aircraft systems and underwater gliders (NOAA research deployments described by Lutnick).
Members requested written statistics from the department detailing where retirements or vacancies exist and timelines for onboarding and training new hires. The secretary said he would provide specifics. Several members signaled they will follow up to confirm data and to ensure continued funding for local forecast offices during the appropriations process.
The hearing produced no formal votes or binding directives; members described the exchange as a request for additional documentation to assess funding and staffing implications.
