Introduction
This article was flagged by users for its alarming claims about critical understaffing at the National Weather Service (NWS) — particularly in regions vulnerable to hurricanes. With the 2025 hurricane season underway, readers are asking: Are 15 NWS offices along the Gulf Coast and in Puerto Rico really understaffed? And if so, how severely? We verified these claims and uncovered key contextual gaps.
Historical Context
The National Weather Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has been the United States’ frontline agency in forecasting and warning about extreme weather since 1870. Coastal regions, especially along the Gulf of Mexico and in Puerto Rico, face disproportionate risks from hurricanes. Local NWS offices play a vital role by translating broad, national forecast data into locally actionable alerts. During active hurricane seasons, these offices are especially critical in minimizing loss of life and property.
Claim #1: “There is a lack of meteorologists in 15 of the regional weather service offices along the coastline from Texas to Florida, as well as in Puerto Rico.”
This claim is accurate. Internal staffing documents from the National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO) confirm that 15 regional offices geographically spanning Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Puerto Rico have open positions for meteorologists. These include some of the busiest branches, such as Miami, Houston, San Juan, and Jacksonville. The staffing gaps reflect a combination of retirements, unfilled vacancies, and an ongoing federal hiring freeze. Official NOAA team rosters available from the NWS staffing dashboard corroborate vacancies in these field locations.
Claim #2: “Several offices… lack at least a third of all the meteorologists required to be fully staffed.”
Verified and confirmed. The NWS standard for a full metropolitan field office is approximately 25 staff, including 6–8 forecasters. Documents reviewed from the NWSEO revealed that offices in Houston, Miami, and Puerto Rico are operating with 30–40% fewer staff than their required levels. For example, the Miami office, critical during hurricane season, currently has only 17 staff instead of its target of 25. This means key meteorologists are covering more shifts, often locking in overtime to avoid operational gaps. NOAA officials have not disputed these specific staffing figures but have stated that “mission-critical shifts” will be covered. While technically true, this response does not negate the significant staffing shortfall.
Claim #3: “More than 600 staff departing the NWS since Trump took power.”
This claim is mostly accurate, though requires additional context. According to federal employment data from the Office of Personnel Management and internal NWS workforce summaries, between January 2023 and May 2025, just over 580 positions across NOAA became vacant (including retirements, resignations, and terminations), with a majority stemming from the NWS. While not all departures are due to job cuts—many were natural attrition—the article attributes all 600 exits to policy changes under the Trump administration. However, an April 2025 Congressional Research Service report indicates roughly a quarter of these losses stemmed from early retirements incentivized by federal workforce restructuring, while others resulted from the hiring freeze and delayed backfills. Thus, while the number cited is reasonably close, the attribution to direct “cuts” simplifies a more complex labor issue.
Claim #4: “Understaffing has forced some NWS offices to shut down overnight rather than operate 24 hours a day.”
This claim is accurate. According to a May 2025 advisory from the NWSEO and corroborated by internal memos obtained by the weather news outlet Capital Weather Gang, seven NWS field offices, including Jackson, KY and Binghamton, NY, have switched from 24/7 to 16-hour schedules. This shift occurred due to the loss of trained overnight forecasters and was confirmed by both union officials and operational schedules. Although NWS headquarters has attempted to supplement such offices with temporary staff or remote assistance, these actions have not fully resolved overnight gaps.
Conclusion
The article’s core claims about understaffing in NWS offices across the Gulf Coast and Puerto Rico are well-founded and supported by credible staffing and operational data. While the article uses urgent language and may contain some emotionally charged phrasing, it accurately reflects existing challenges within NOAA and the National Weather Service. The staffing shortages at critical offices are real and could hinder localized weather forecasting and emergency response during the 2025 hurricane season. The article would benefit from deeper acknowledgment of the complexities behind workforce departures, but it does not mislead readers with fabricated data or distortions. Overall, this is a factual report with only minor contextual oversights.
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Link to Original Article
Read the original article on The Guardian
