Hurricane forecasts are at stake after NOAA Hurricane Hunter layoffs

The recent layoffs at NOAA's Office of Aircraft Operations, which includes the Hurricane Hunters, threaten to reduce the quality of data critical for hurricane monitoring, prediction, and warning. Two flight directors and one electronic engineer were terminated, leaving only six flight directors to operate three aircraft 24/7 during significant hurricanes. This reduction in staff will likely lead to fewer Hurricane Hunter flights, which could negatively impact hurricane forecasts. The NOAA Hurricane Hunters collect data that is fed into computer models used to forecast hurricanes, including Doppler radar data that is essential for accurate intensity forecasts. Without this data, hurricane models may not perform as well, and National Hurricane Center official forecasts may be less accurate. The National Hurricane Center is also losing staff, including a tropical analysis and forecasting branch forecaster and an IT person, which may lead to tight staffing in the immediate future. Significant cuts to NOAA's hurricane research efforts have also occurred, including the firing of six researchers at NOAA's hurricane research lab in Miami. These cuts could halt work on improving hurricane models and significantly increase the risks from hurricanes. NOAA is threatened with further cuts, including plans to lay off around 50% of its staff and lose 30% of its funding, which could prove dangerous in an era of accelerating climate change impacts. The administration's Project 2025 plan calls for NOAA to be broken up, most of its climate change research to be ended, and the National Weather Service to be commercialized.