Why is nobody talking about what they did to the National Weather Service?
Has anyone else noticed weather forecasts have gotten really bad lately?
As a producer, accurate 3-5 day forecasts are very important to my job. Shoot days are insanely expensive and when the forecast says sunny and we roll up to rain… that’s not just frustrating, that’s a real money problem.
So I went down a rabbit hole and what I found is kind of wild. The government cut over 550 staff from the National Weather Service, stopped 17% of all weather balloon launches, and slashed around $200 million from forecasting programs. Like… weather balloons are literally the main data source feeding every forecast model behind every app on your phone.
The total savings from all of it?! Around $50-70 million. Which is less than what seven B-2 bombers cost to fly a single overnight mission during the Iran strikes.
So we basically gutted the National Weather Service… for the price of one night of bomber runs… and now none of us have any idea what the weather is actually going to do?!
Would love to know if anyone else in industries that depends on forecasts is feeling this. Because I feel like nobody is talking about it and they really should be.