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LINCOLN – The National Weather Service announced recently that it would hire back 450 meteorologists, hydrologists, and radar technicians after making sweeping cuts earlier in the year.
The announcement came as the agency tries to recoup losses from the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to reshape the federal bureaucracy. While the Weather Service faced staffing issues long before President Donald Trump’s second term, recent cuts required “urgent action,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Nebraska U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., touted the news as “a message that they’re focused on strengthening the NWS for years to come.”
“For decades, the National Weather Service has helped keep our communities safe with accurate and timely forecasts,” Flood said.
Flood led the push among Nebraska’s federal delegation to reverse a DOGE cut that caused a Weather Service office in the Omaha areaand other Great Plains offices to pause the deployment of weather balloons in April. The station is launching two weather balloons a day, Flood has said, but the Omaha-area office has said it still faces staffing issues.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon., also sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressing his concerns about the NWS cuts. The Trump administration fired roughly a combined 600 workers from both agencies earlier this year. The cuts contributed to two offices that cover rural western and southwestern Nebraska to no longer monitor local weather.
