NOAA ‘Fully Staffed’ With Forecasters, Scientists, US Commerce Secretary Says

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told a Senate hearing that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is “fully staffed” with weather forecasters and scientists after concerns were raised about some offices losing 24-hour staffing ahead of hurricane season.
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The U.S. hurricane season officially began on Sunday and lasts through November. NOAA forecast last week that this year’s season is expected to bring as many as 10 hurricanes.
Related: Here Comes Another Busy Atlantic Hurricane Season
The agency had been scrambling to reassign staffers internally to fill gaps in understaffed offices over the last few months, sources have told Reuters.
Lutnick told the committee that they are going to fill these positions and focus on cutting programs that he said were not part of NOAA’s mission, including “children’s books about climate anxiety.”
An internal memo seen by Reuters said that NOAA plans to hire 126 mission-critical positions at the National Weather Service including forecasters, radar technicians, hydrologists and physical scientists that will be advertised externally.
Photo: Hurricane Idalia in 2023. (NOAA via AP)