NWS Cuts May Lead to Michigan Forecast Inaccuracies

The National Weather Service will soon be launching fewer weather balloons each day, which may lead to forecast frustration for Michigan residents.

The NWS is a division of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations. In a memo to subscribers, NOAA said that it would be temporarily reducing the number of weather balloon launches per day from two to one at six weather stations around the country, including one in Michigan.

Weather Stations Reducing Weather Balloon Launches:

Aberdeen, SD
Grand Junction, CO
Green Bay, WI
Gaylord, MI
North Platte, NE
Riverton, WY

Why is the National Weather Service Cutting Balloon Launches?

The National Weather Service cites staff shortages, saying there have been hundreds of layoffs or voluntary resignations across the agency.

According to Inside Climate News, the staffing shortage has been attributed to the Trump Administration's Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk.

Is the Accuracy of Weather Forecasting in Michigan in Jeopardy?

The NWS launches weather balloons twice daily from 100 upper air sites throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Basin.

Instruments attached to these weather balloons (known as Radiosondes) send back data such as temperature, dew point, relative humidity, and more to help meteorologists derive weather forecasts.

Alan Sealls is a longtime TV meteorologist and president-elect of the American Meteorological Society. He says "time will tell" how much the loss of these balloon launches will impact forecast models.

"It’s similar to constructing a steel-framed office building requiring a certain number of bolts," Sealls said. "Nobody can say how many bolts you can leave out or remove before the structural integrity is compromised."

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Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

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