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A South Florida meteorologist warned that federal spending cuts will affect his ability to accurately predict hurricanes and other weather patterns.
During the NBC 6 forecast on Monday (June 2), meteorologist John Morales detailed the impact of the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly run by tech billionaire Elon Musk, carrying out sweeping cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), both of which provide weather forecasts, up-to-the-minute severe storm warnings, climate monitoring and extreme weather tracking.
Morales shared a clip of himself from 2019 during which he confidently declared that Hurricane Dorian was going to turn away from Florida, assuring residents that they would be safe from the natural disaster.
"And I am here to tell you that I am not sure I can do that this year, because of the cuts, the gutting, the sledgehammer attack on science in general," Morales said.
As of April, nearly half of NWS forecast offices had 20 percent vacancy rates. Morales warned Monday that the quality of forecasts would be "degraded" due to fewer staff at key agencies and a reduction in weather balloons.
"And what we're starting to see is that the quality of the forecast is becoming degraded," Morales said.
"There's also a chance, because of some of these cuts, that NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft will not be able to fly this year, and with less reconnaissance missions, we may be flying blind, and we may not exactly know how strong a hurricane is before it reaches the coastline, like happened a couple of years ago in Hurricane Otis in Acapulco, Mexico."
"So I was asked to talk about this today. I'm glad I was. I just want you to know that what you need to do is call your representatives, and make sure that these cuts are stopped."
In a statement on Monday, NWS said it would be hiring more staff to "stabilize" the agency.
Morales, however, noted Sunday that he was "worried" about federal cuts amid an "unprecedented" hurricane season.
"2025's hurricane season is already unprecedented. Never have we faced the combustible mix of a lack of meteorological data and the less accurate forecasts that follow, with an elevated propensity for the rapidly intensifying hurricanes of the manmade climate change era," Morales wrote in an article for NBC 6. "Am I worried? You bet I am! And so are hundreds of other scientists, including all living former U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) directors, who fear a 'needless loss of life' as a result of the loss of staff and resources at NWS brought on since January."
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