March 18, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode of One Thing Trump Did, we break down what DOGE's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service mean for forecasters across the nation. Jeremy is joined by meteorologist Jeff Huffman, a Weather Communications Specialist for Baron Weather. #OTTD #NWS #NOAA #weather #forecasts #naturaldisaster #tornado #hurricane #DOGE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to One Thing Trump Did. It's available exclusively on
the Middle podcast feed. I'm Jeremy Hobson. Each week on
this podcast, we are looking at one thing President Trump did,
since there is so much happening and we're going to
try and break things down in the same rational, non partisan,
factual way we do on the Middle. And before we
get started, a reminder that if you like this podcast,
(00:37):
please rate it highly and share it with your friends.
That's how we grow this thing. So in this episode,
our one thing is what's happening with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration NOAH the cuts from the Department of
Government Efficiency. Noah's in charge of the National Weather Service,
which collects data used by meteorologists all over the country
to make forecasts and warn you when natural disasters might strike.
(01:02):
The entire budget of NOAH is about six point six
billion dollars. That's out of more than six trillion that
the government spent last year. Hundreds of workers at NOAH, though,
have lost their jobs. In February, hundreds of workers did
in a new round of layoffs could mean twenty percent
of the agency's staff would be cut. A lot of
(01:23):
people are angry about that, including Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Would you rather use a magic eight ball to know
when to evacuate for a hurricane, on wildfire, or when
to shelter for a tornado? Would you rather your daily
weather be yet another subscription service draining your bank account?
A worse yet, have life saving weather predictions use surge
pricing like Uber, because that is the Project twenty twenty
(01:52):
five plan which Elon Musk and his Doge minions have
been following line by line. Totize your National Weather Service.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Well, joining me now is meteorologist Jeff Huffman, a weather
communication specialist for Barren Weather. He's in Huntsville, Alabama. Jeff,
great to have you on the show.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Thanks, Jeremy, happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's great to have you. And you know we know
each other because I used to talk to you all
the time every time there was a big natural disaster happening.
You were running the like emergency management communications system in
Florida to keep people up to date on hurricanes and
things like that. So let's start there with your time
as a meteorologist. How much do meteorologists like you rely
(02:37):
on the work of the National Weather Service?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Well, Jeremy, it's critical, and I would like to briefly
kind of explain my path to getting here, because I
do feel like some of these steps along my career
have kind of positioned me in a unique situation to
kind of understand the middle ground.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I think the middle.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Ground on this issue is very tiny, very narrow. I
started as a commercial broadcaster in Missouri for the first
to eight years of my career, and then the job
you referenced is my job at the University of Florida
for the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network that was in
the public sector, helping NPR stations such as the one
that you spent many years with, prepare for extreme weather events.
(03:17):
We actually served all stations in the state of Florida
and in South Carolina, similarly to what you mentioned from
a budget standpoint, with less than a two hundred thousand
dollars a year budget, we were able to provide.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
That service to all those stations.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
And then more recently I moved into the private sector
for the company I work with now, so I've kind
of I think I understand this issue in terms of, like,
obviously there's a lot of heartache and a lot of
concern for what is potentially happening to one of the
most critical agencies in our country. But on the other side,
I can also understand what is happening from the top
(03:53):
down in terms of the cuts.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Well, so explain like how much do meteorologists rely on
the National Weather Service?
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Well, the Weather Service and all the different agencies of
NOAH are super critical. I mean, many of your listeners
may not realize that even some of the everyday weather
apps they use, or the data that they see on
television or here on the radio that is appears to
be a private forecast, a lot of that data comes
from NOAH. And if it's cut off, we're looking at
(04:21):
potential impact to human life and property. So even the
basic data such as a radar image, most of that
comes from NOAH funded radars throughout the country. So any
type of cut to this organization or this agency and
all the subsidiaries is extremely important to obviously make sure
that it's not mission critical. Now, what is mission critical
(04:44):
is obviously very subjective. But when it comes to the
critical mission of NOAH, which is protecting life and property
and supporting all the decision support that goes along with that,
and of course the homeland security response, all of those
services that come from NOAH and the Nash Weather Service
that are life and property and preparing for the extreme
weather in the day and age of our changing climate.
(05:05):
That is all, in my opinion, stuff that should be
hands off.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Are there any private forecasters doing the level of work
that the National Weather Service does, like something like an
ACU weather.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
There are many private forecasters or companies that are starting
to do much more work that emulates or resembles what
NOAH does, And in some cases I would have to
admit that some of the private enterprise does things a
little leaner and maybe a little more efficient for their
specific audiences. But we have to remember that NOAH and
the National Weather Service they serve not only consumers but businesses,
(05:38):
and they also serve national security interest for our country.
So it's really not apples to apples to compare private
enterprise to government weather agency work, just because the obviously
NOAH has to serve many audiences.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Well in the National Weather Service is also going to
care about a storm that might hit in the middle
of what we would consider to be nowhere. In fact,
people live there, and a private company is probably not
going to have the incentive to go in and care
that much about a place like that. But Noah does,
or the National Weather Service does.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah. In the digital age though that that difficulty is
made a little easier with some of the derived products
and a lot of AI. But you're correct, Noah still
or National Weather Service still puts humans in the chairs
at each office we call them, you know, local forecast offices,
and those experts are still making life saving decisions for
(06:33):
residents in their area that are sometimes are underserved by
either a local TV station or maybe underserved by most
private enterprises.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
So what do we know about the cuts so far?
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Well, this is where I kind of have to just
kind of monitor. I've definitely am in contact with some
close friends at NOAH and in some cases at pretty
high levels of different agencies such as the National Hurricane Center,
you know, just like you, I monitor the feeds and
social media. And what I'm deducting from this is that
there has been a recognition, at least recently that maybe
(07:07):
DOGE or the administration needs to be a little more
careful about what they're doing. I certainly saw some posts
from individuals who were victims of that probationary period where
they just received a promotion maybe twenty thirty years of
noble service, really good at what they do, and of
course they got the notice that to retire or to resign.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
That is obviously very disappointing.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Hopefully that is being resolved, you know, twenty percent. I
think that number is too high for an agency that
I already know to be quite lean in terms of
what they provide to the general public.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Well, and we know also that some weather balloons have
been cut back because of staff shortages. What kind of
a difference does that make?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well detection, real time detection.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Sometimes it's via remote sensings such as radar data or
satellite space, but in many cases we still rely on
ground truth. And I use ground truth loosely because, believe
it or not, airplanes moving through the sky are often
sending data back to Noah and taking observations. That kind
of information is critical to the verifying the forecast data.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
It's critical to going into like.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
A forecast model, and it's just real important from the
ground up.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So that is obviously disappointed to hear.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Thankfully, I've not heard that that has been a widespread issue.
But when it comes to cutting staff, you know, I
understand what's going on at the local level, These local offices,
the offices that send up those weather balloons. They've got
to make very difficult decisions right now. What makes the
cut inside their own operation.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
There was severe weather that swept across a lot of
the Midwest and the South in the last many days,
and we're headed obviously into tornado season coming up here
in the next few months. How could these cuts impact
the accuracy of medurologists forecasts, especially ahead of a natural disaster.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Well, you know, I've not met one person from the
National Weather Service that is not extremely capable of what
they do and an expert at what they do and
very dedicated. So I rely on my interactions with them
and knowing who they are as a general persona that
works there, that they're going to do what's right and
do what's most important. So, yes, you could make an
(09:24):
indirect claim that lives could be at stake.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I understand that totally.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
But I know the people really well that work with
these agencies, and they're going to get the job done
even with the cuts, even with the reduced.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Staff, They're going to do their very best day in
and day out.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
So it may be kind of difficult to quantify how
these cuts will affect the results of some type of
catastrophic event, but certainly we don't like to see it,
that's for sure. But I can tell you right now,
I know the people that work at these offices, and
they're very dedicated and they will do what they need
to do to keep people safe.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
But do you think that Americans listening to this right
now should feel like they are not going to be
as safe because of these cuts.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
That's a great question, And you know, I want to
take a step back, just personally.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I thought of this analogy, if you don't mind me sharing.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
We all remember when we were young and trying to
manage our first bank account.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
You know, I myself could attest to.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Maybe being a little too careless or carefree with my
spending on a weekend, and we may be going to
the grocery store on a Monday morning and realizing that,
oh oh we've overdrawn and our debit card gets declined.
You know, I know that's a very simple analogy, but
I feel like that's kind of what's going on right now,
is you know, some of our most critical services are
in jeopardy of being cut or not being funded. Because
(10:38):
of maybe some careless spending and other agencies. So that's
the really difficult situation we're all in. I definitely think
the concern of the cuts affecting the performance and the
reliability of NOAH are certainly valid. I must attest Jeremy
that even now in the private enterprise space, you would
maybe be shocked to know that sometimes at the most
(10:59):
critical moments, well before this administration took office for the
second term, sometimes NOAH data goes down, Sometimes the Weather
Service data goes down.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Those things have happened.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
There's been several reports of you know, the infrastructure with
NOAH and the National Weather Service not being kept up
to date with the latest technology and with the latest
improvements for serving you know, the entire country at some
of the most critical moments. So I guess, you know,
even before this administration, even before DOGE, there were certainly
some things that probably deserve to be looked at with NOAH.
(11:29):
Let's remember that as well from the other side of
this perspective. But no doubt, I think the concern that
the cuts are going to potentially, you know, cause some
degradation in the services, that's very valid. So it's my
personal hope that a lot of that gets cleared up.
You know that this gets resolved quickly in the public space.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
But so far, it sounds like what you're saying is
that the cuts that are happening don't look that strategic
or pinpointed to you, more like broad based cuts without
a real plan about who's in and who's out.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Yeah, that's the one criticism I would certainly have, probably
the strongest criticism is it does appear that way, and
we've seen that in other government agencies or government organizations.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
So that has been the methodology or the approach that
it's been.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Taken, and certainly that is probably creates more anxiety or concern.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
With that in mind, we'll stand by for a mom
We're going to take a quick break. I'm speaking with
meteorologist Jeff Huffman, who's a weather communications specialist for Baron
Weather in Huntsville, Alabama. One Thing Trump Did will be
right back in a moment. Welcome back to One Thing
(12:46):
Trump Did exclusively on the Middle podcast Feed. I'm Jeremy Hobson.
In this episode, we're talking about Trump's cuts to Noah
and the impacts on weather forecasting across the country. I'm
joined by meteorologist Jeff Huffman of Barren Weather. Jeff, it
seems at the core of Trump's dislike of Noah specifically
and Project twenty twenty fives dislike of Noah is climate change.
(13:09):
They either don't believe in it or they don't want
the US to do anything about it, and therefore understanding
what's actually going on from satellite imagery and all the
data that Noah collects may stand in the way. Is
that your sense.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
I definitely understand that concern, that is for sure, because
obviously we know that our climate is changing and extreme
events are becoming more frequent and in some cases, especially
with rainfall and flooding events around the world, and my
current job, we're monitoring that all over the globe.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
So we have to remember.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
That with climate change and with the extreme events at
least this is my personal kind of motive. Preparing for
the actual event itself, and my opinion, is more important
than actually preparing for the holistic climate change as a whole,
because the individual events themselves can more directly affect you
and your business and your family, and that is something
(14:00):
that I understand that the cuts my impact, and I
understand how partisan it can be this climate change issue.
But I firmly believe that whatever we can do, and
whatever Noah can do in the Weather Service, and don't
forget about Homeland Security and FEMA, whatever they can do
to continue to help us as a society prepare for
the extreme events, that is by far the priority when
(14:22):
it comes to climate change.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Well, how might scaling back noah research on climate change
make it harder to combat the impacts of climate change?
Speaker 4 (14:31):
So that's kind of difficult to answer, because I believe
that the research on climate change and the response to
climate change.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Should be two totally different efforts.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
I don't have insight exactly is how climate change research
is funded and which agency is doing it. I do
know that grants and money for risk mitigation can be
used for climate research, and that's very important. What I
mean by that is when you have a major event.
I remember this from working in Florida. You have a
few years like I think two thousand and four, two
(15:02):
thousand and five with many hurricanes hitting the state, and
then we've had a ration of hurricanes recently. Usually there's
money that's granted by the government in terms of mitigating
this risk for future occurrences. So if you pair the
research on climate change to the money that comes in
from mitigating that risk. I think that really targets the
right areas in terms of this preparedness arena. So I
(15:25):
do personally believe that NOAH should possibly be not solely
funded by the Department of Commerce. I think there should
be something. You know, this is a little bit outside
of my purview. I want to make the case again
that I think climate change research and response to actually
extreme events made worse by climate change should be two
completely separate efforts.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Interesting, but at the same time, you want to have
the big picture, because if you know that the climate
is changing and it's going to cause more extreme weather events,
you're better off probably than if you don't know what's
going on with the climate. You don't know what's going
on with sea level, you don't know what's going on
with the ocean currents, and all kinds of different things
that are going to impact what happens.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I could not agree with you more.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
The antithetical I guess to that is if money has
to be spent for preparing for something that might happen
fifty years from now due to climate change, versus being
spent on most critical life saving in the moment response
or preparedness for a catastrophe that's about to happen. I
certainly would argue if you have to make that horrible decision,
(16:30):
I would argue it needs to be made in the
near term of preparing for an extreme event.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
We're talking about this mostly as it relates to ordinary
people staying safe from disasters, etc. But as you've said,
you work with businesses these days. What kind of economic
impact do you think that these cuts to NOAH in
the National Weather Service will have for businesses that are
trying to measure their own risk.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
It's a great question.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
It kind of lines up with who I work for
in terms of, you know, the company I work for
helps businesses prepare for extreme weather or event. So there
are many private enterprise companies out there that can can
kind of fill that gap. But let's not forget a
lot of those private companies receive the data feeds from
NOAH and the National Weather Service.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
So it's kind of a double edged sword here.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
You can't, I guess, and simply stated, you can't bite
off the hand that feeds you, right, So we are
certainly as a private company and as me personally, I'm
certainly hoping for the very best to through this very
turbulent times at Noah, because we certainly need those life saving,
critical public safety services from all the agencies of Noah.
But if businesses are concerned, don't forget there is private
(17:34):
enterprise they can help them as well. And let's be real,
when you're a private business and you are responsible for
hundreds of other people that you that'll work for your company,
or maybe you're responsible for the bottom line of your business,
we often hear that businesses don't want to be in
the same line that the public is in terms of
getting their data from Noah. So private enterprise is certainly
provides more reliable data, more beefed up data to help
(17:57):
businesses in those situations.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Give me an example. You don't have to name names,
but like, tell me how you would prepare a business,
what business would be interested in, how a natural disaster
might affect them, and how do they plan for that
as they look ahead?
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Sure thing, I think utility companies, telecom companies. Those are
some very large operations that rely heavily on very accurate,
up to the minute, up to the second even weather data.
So like a utility company preparing for a major outage
telecom as well. Think about how much money it would
cost an airline if they make.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
A mistake even just staying on.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
The tarmac an extra thirty minutes, but they didn't expect,
like if all the fuel they're spending. So it's more
about obviously it's a dual full mission. It's about obviously
protecting lives and not only the lives of those businesses
as customers, but the business employees as well.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
But also equally.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Important is their bottom line and making sure they're staying
very efficient in what they do in avoiding weather disasters.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
So, Jeff, we've been talking about all the things that
people might miss if there are cuts. Are there you
know in the course of your career, are there grievances
that people have about Noah in the National Weather Service?
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Well, yeah, as I alluded to with my journey in
my career, you know, from commercial broadcast to then public broadcasts,
which when I was in the public space, I worked
hand in hand with Weather Service personnel, emergency management personnel
because I wasn't often as viewed as media. I was
more viewed as a partner. And now I work in
private enterprise. So, like I said, earlier.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
I understand that.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
I know the people that are in those chairs making
those really tough decisions.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
They're very dedicated.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
I certainly am very supportive of everything they do with
their job day in and day out.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
But in the.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Private enterprise space, I've been made aware and it's been
very obvious that there are some there seems to be
some deficiencies at times with data feeds, reliability of data.
I would say that that has gotten better in recent years,
but there's no doubt and I think it's been well documented.
There was even you know, some congressional investigation a few
years ago into the infrastructure behind Noah and what and
(19:58):
how to improve the infrastructre sure how to make sure
that data is reliable, redundant, and so I think that's
something that if there is something positive that could come
out of these cuts, is maybe looking into that and
figuring out maybe the allocation of resources to improve the reliability.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Of their data.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
And one more thing, you know, there's been a lot
we talked about funding research and projects. That's another thing
that just I have to I scratch my head a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Now.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
I'm not on you know, I don't want to say
that I'm there understanding every single challenge that Noah and
the Weather Service has. But a project such as FACETS,
which is a program that began in twenty fifteen for
it's called it stands for Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
It's a really great product when it gets done.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I mean we're sitting here a decade later and the
project is still in development. Stuff like that I scratch
my head about. And despite the negativity of the cuts,
I understand, I sure hope that that all gets cleared up.
I hope that something positive can come from the DOGE
efforts in this administration, and that just like several other agencies,
there's an identification of maybe what can be leaner, but
(21:02):
also what we need to bolster in terms of resources.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
So, Jeff, you're joining us from Huntsville, Alabama, in one
of the reddest of the red states. I wonder, you know,
as you think about this, like if I were to
go to that rally where Edward Markey in Massachusetts was
and everybody pulling their hair out saying, I can't believe
that these cuts are happening. This is going to harm us,
This is going to hurt us as a country, is
(21:27):
going to hurt the world. How do people feel where
you are about this and your colleagues, are they, oh
my gosh, I can't believe they're making cuts in the
National Weather Service? Are they sort of going, well, I
wonder what they're cutting? Is this going to be okay
in the end, that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Well, well, first of all, I like to say that
I usually say I'm from Huntsville, and I do not
mention the Alabama part. Huntsville is a very purple city
at least, you know, this area can be.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
So it's difficult.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
I've had some very difficult conversations with friends who work
at the Weather Service or friends in the broadcast industry.
You know, I think, at least for me, it's pretty
easy to point out the partisanship. I think a lot
of the claims that lives are going to be at stake,
some of that stuff is, like I mentioned earlier, not
necessarily apples to apples. It's more indirectly it could happen,
(22:13):
but it's more of a hypothetical. So I kind of
try to filter some of that out.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Even though I.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Understand that concern, and I understand that any type of
reduction in the resources to Noah and the Weather Service
could really compromise critical services. On the other side, I
have friends and family who are just cut it all,
you know, we don't need the Weather Service, blah blah blah.
Those are those are obviously uneducated opinions in terms of
where the data comes from. Like I mentioned earlier, nearly
(22:40):
every single weather app you open, or every single forecast
you see on TV, even if it's from a private enterprise,
chances are a significant portion of that data comes from
Noah and the Weather Service and we and it would
not be a good forecast without it, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Jeff I grew up in Tornado Alley in Champagne, Orbana, Illinois.
Lived in New York City during Hurricane Sandy. That was
pretty incredible to live through. But I just was in
Los Angeles for the wildfires, and that was by far
the scariest, you know, natural disaster that I've ever lived
(23:15):
through because it's so immediate. It's like, oh, the fire started,
you know, right around the corner from you, and it's gonna,
you know, grow exponentially in just a matter of minutes,
and you don't even know what's going on by the
time you have to get up and leave your house.
What about you, what's the what's the most intense weather
event that you've ever lived through?
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Well, ironically, that's where I got my passion for meteorology
and more importantly for the broadcast side, as I lived
through a couple of very close calls with tornadoes at
a young age in southern Missouri. And I've also been
a lightning strike victim. You may have not known that
about me in a car though I was saved from
the grounding of the car that was obviously I opening.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
And I've also seen.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Firsthand how flashed can move your car off the road.
So just under just like you, I mean, this weather
affects us all, and we all have to kind of
weather it together. And in these situations, I understand the
passion because of those who have been affected by extreme
weather events.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Obviously, when you.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
See that Noah's going to be cut, it probably leads
to some type of very extreme reaction and very big concern.
I understand that totally. Like I said earlier, with that
context and understanding that weather does affect us all, I
sure hope that the administration and those it does have
recognized that this is maybe an agency that if you
did need.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
To cut it.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
You needed to go in with a little bit more
with a fine tooth comb or a little more surgical
and it cuts.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
You know, maybe call me an optimist.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
Hopefully that will be recognized real soon in future updates
on this On this issue.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
That is Jeff Huffman, who's a weather communication specialist for
Barren Weather. He's a meteorologist joining us from Huntsville, Alabama. Jeff,
great to have you on the show.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Thank you so much, my pleasure, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
And thanks to you for listening to One Thing Trump did.
It was produced by Brandon Condritz and Harrison Fatino. Our
next middle episode will be in your podcast feed later
this week. We'll be live from Colorado Public Radio to
talk about the future of American energy. And if you
like this podcast, you can rate it wherever you get
your podcasts, Tell your friends and make sure you sign
up for automatic downloads. Our theme music was composed by
Noah Haidu. I'm Jeremy Hobson. Talk to you next time.
Welcome to One Thing Trump Did. It's available exclusively on
the Middle podcast feed. I'm Jeremy Hobson. Each week on
this podcast, we are looking at one thing President Trump did,
since there is so much happening and we're going to
try and break things down in the same rational, non partisan,
factual way we do on the Middle. And before we
get started, a reminder that if you like this podcast,
(00:37):
please rate it highly and share it with your friends.
That's how we grow this thing. So in this episode,
our one thing is what's happening with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration NOAH the cuts from the Department of
Government Efficiency. Noah's in charge of the National Weather Service,
which collects data used by meteorologists all over the country
to make forecasts and warn you when natural disasters might strike.
(01:02):
The entire budget of NOAH is about six point six
billion dollars. That's out of more than six trillion that
the government spent last year. Hundreds of workers at NOAH, though,
have lost their jobs. In February, hundreds of workers did
in a new round of layoffs could mean twenty percent
of the agency's staff would be cut. A lot of
(01:23):
people are angry about that, including Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Would you rather use a magic eight ball to know
when to evacuate for a hurricane, on wildfire, or when
to shelter for a tornado? Would you rather your daily
weather be yet another subscription service draining your bank account?
A worse yet, have life saving weather predictions use surge
pricing like Uber, because that is the Project twenty twenty
(01:52):
five plan which Elon Musk and his Doge minions have
been following line by line. Totize your National Weather Service.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Well, joining me now is meteorologist Jeff Huffman, a weather
communication specialist for Barren Weather. He's in Huntsville, Alabama. Jeff,
great to have you on the show.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Thanks, Jeremy, happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's great to have you. And you know we know
each other because I used to talk to you all
the time every time there was a big natural disaster happening.
You were running the like emergency management communications system in
Florida to keep people up to date on hurricanes and
things like that. So let's start there with your time
as a meteorologist. How much do meteorologists like you rely
(02:37):
on the work of the National Weather Service?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Well, Jeremy, it's critical, and I would like to briefly
kind of explain my path to getting here, because I
do feel like some of these steps along my career
have kind of positioned me in a unique situation to
kind of understand the middle ground.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I think the middle.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Ground on this issue is very tiny, very narrow. I
started as a commercial broadcaster in Missouri for the first
to eight years of my career, and then the job
you referenced is my job at the University of Florida
for the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network that was in
the public sector, helping NPR stations such as the one
that you spent many years with, prepare for extreme weather events.
(03:17):
We actually served all stations in the state of Florida
and in South Carolina, similarly to what you mentioned from
a budget standpoint, with less than a two hundred thousand
dollars a year budget, we were able to provide.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
That service to all those stations.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
And then more recently I moved into the private sector
for the company I work with now, so I've kind
of I think I understand this issue in terms of, like,
obviously there's a lot of heartache and a lot of
concern for what is potentially happening to one of the
most critical agencies in our country. But on the other side,
I can also understand what is happening from the top
(03:53):
down in terms of the cuts.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Well, so explain like how much do meteorologists rely on
the National Weather Service?
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Well, the Weather Service and all the different agencies of
NOAH are super critical. I mean, many of your listeners
may not realize that even some of the everyday weather
apps they use, or the data that they see on
television or here on the radio that is appears to
be a private forecast, a lot of that data comes
from NOAH. And if it's cut off, we're looking at
(04:21):
potential impact to human life and property. So even the
basic data such as a radar image, most of that
comes from NOAH funded radars throughout the country. So any
type of cut to this organization or this agency and
all the subsidiaries is extremely important to obviously make sure
that it's not mission critical. Now, what is mission critical
(04:44):
is obviously very subjective. But when it comes to the
critical mission of NOAH, which is protecting life and property
and supporting all the decision support that goes along with that,
and of course the homeland security response, all of those
services that come from NOAH and the Nash Weather Service
that are life and property and preparing for the extreme
weather in the day and age of our changing climate.
(05:05):
That is all, in my opinion, stuff that should be
hands off.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Are there any private forecasters doing the level of work
that the National Weather Service does, like something like an
ACU weather.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
There are many private forecasters or companies that are starting
to do much more work that emulates or resembles what
NOAH does, And in some cases I would have to
admit that some of the private enterprise does things a
little leaner and maybe a little more efficient for their
specific audiences. But we have to remember that NOAH and
the National Weather Service they serve not only consumers but businesses,
(05:38):
and they also serve national security interest for our country.
So it's really not apples to apples to compare private
enterprise to government weather agency work, just because the obviously
NOAH has to serve many audiences.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Well in the National Weather Service is also going to
care about a storm that might hit in the middle
of what we would consider to be nowhere. In fact,
people live there, and a private company is probably not
going to have the incentive to go in and care
that much about a place like that. But Noah does,
or the National Weather Service does.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah. In the digital age though that that difficulty is
made a little easier with some of the derived products
and a lot of AI. But you're correct, Noah still
or National Weather Service still puts humans in the chairs
at each office we call them, you know, local forecast offices,
and those experts are still making life saving decisions for
(06:33):
residents in their area that are sometimes are underserved by
either a local TV station or maybe underserved by most
private enterprises.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
So what do we know about the cuts so far?
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Well, this is where I kind of have to just
kind of monitor. I've definitely am in contact with some
close friends at NOAH and in some cases at pretty
high levels of different agencies such as the National Hurricane Center,
you know, just like you, I monitor the feeds and
social media. And what I'm deducting from this is that
there has been a recognition, at least recently that maybe
(07:07):
DOGE or the administration needs to be a little more
careful about what they're doing. I certainly saw some posts
from individuals who were victims of that probationary period where
they just received a promotion maybe twenty thirty years of
noble service, really good at what they do, and of
course they got the notice that to retire or to resign.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
That is obviously very disappointing.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Hopefully that is being resolved, you know, twenty percent. I
think that number is too high for an agency that
I already know to be quite lean in terms of
what they provide to the general public.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Well, and we know also that some weather balloons have
been cut back because of staff shortages. What kind of
a difference does that make?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well detection, real time detection.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Sometimes it's via remote sensings such as radar data or
satellite space, but in many cases we still rely on
ground truth. And I use ground truth loosely because, believe
it or not, airplanes moving through the sky are often
sending data back to Noah and taking observations. That kind
of information is critical to the verifying the forecast data.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
It's critical to going into like.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
A forecast model, and it's just real important from the
ground up.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So that is obviously disappointed to hear.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Thankfully, I've not heard that that has been a widespread issue.
But when it comes to cutting staff, you know, I
understand what's going on at the local level, These local offices,
the offices that send up those weather balloons. They've got
to make very difficult decisions right now. What makes the
cut inside their own operation.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
There was severe weather that swept across a lot of
the Midwest and the South in the last many days,
and we're headed obviously into tornado season coming up here
in the next few months. How could these cuts impact
the accuracy of medurologists forecasts, especially ahead of a natural disaster.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Well, you know, I've not met one person from the
National Weather Service that is not extremely capable of what
they do and an expert at what they do and
very dedicated. So I rely on my interactions with them
and knowing who they are as a general persona that
works there, that they're going to do what's right and
do what's most important. So, yes, you could make an
(09:24):
indirect claim that lives could be at stake.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I understand that totally.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
But I know the people really well that work with
these agencies, and they're going to get the job done
even with the cuts, even with the reduced.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Staff, They're going to do their very best day in
and day out.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
So it may be kind of difficult to quantify how
these cuts will affect the results of some type of
catastrophic event, but certainly we don't like to see it,
that's for sure. But I can tell you right now,
I know the people that work at these offices, and
they're very dedicated and they will do what they need
to do to keep people safe.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
But do you think that Americans listening to this right
now should feel like they are not going to be
as safe because of these cuts.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
That's a great question, And you know, I want to
take a step back, just personally.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I thought of this analogy, if you don't mind me sharing.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
We all remember when we were young and trying to
manage our first bank account.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
You know, I myself could attest to.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Maybe being a little too careless or carefree with my
spending on a weekend, and we may be going to
the grocery store on a Monday morning and realizing that,
oh oh we've overdrawn and our debit card gets declined.
You know, I know that's a very simple analogy, but
I feel like that's kind of what's going on right now,
is you know, some of our most critical services are
in jeopardy of being cut or not being funded. Because
(10:38):
of maybe some careless spending and other agencies. So that's
the really difficult situation we're all in. I definitely think
the concern of the cuts affecting the performance and the
reliability of NOAH are certainly valid. I must attest Jeremy
that even now in the private enterprise space, you would
maybe be shocked to know that sometimes at the most
(10:59):
critical moments, well before this administration took office for the
second term, sometimes NOAH data goes down, Sometimes the Weather
Service data goes down.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Those things have happened.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
There's been several reports of you know, the infrastructure with
NOAH and the National Weather Service not being kept up
to date with the latest technology and with the latest
improvements for serving you know, the entire country at some
of the most critical moments. So I guess, you know,
even before this administration, even before DOGE, there were certainly
some things that probably deserve to be looked at with NOAH.
(11:29):
Let's remember that as well from the other side of
this perspective. But no doubt, I think the concern that
the cuts are going to potentially, you know, cause some
degradation in the services, that's very valid. So it's my
personal hope that a lot of that gets cleared up.
You know that this gets resolved quickly in the public space.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
But so far, it sounds like what you're saying is
that the cuts that are happening don't look that strategic
or pinpointed to you, more like broad based cuts without
a real plan about who's in and who's out.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Yeah, that's the one criticism I would certainly have, probably
the strongest criticism is it does appear that way, and
we've seen that in other government agencies or government organizations.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
So that has been the methodology or the approach that
it's been.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Taken, and certainly that is probably creates more anxiety or concern.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
With that in mind, we'll stand by for a mom
We're going to take a quick break. I'm speaking with
meteorologist Jeff Huffman, who's a weather communications specialist for Baron
Weather in Huntsville, Alabama. One Thing Trump Did will be
right back in a moment. Welcome back to One Thing
(12:46):
Trump Did exclusively on the Middle podcast Feed. I'm Jeremy Hobson.
In this episode, we're talking about Trump's cuts to Noah
and the impacts on weather forecasting across the country. I'm
joined by meteorologist Jeff Huffman of Barren Weather. Jeff, it
seems at the core of Trump's dislike of Noah specifically
and Project twenty twenty fives dislike of Noah is climate change.
(13:09):
They either don't believe in it or they don't want
the US to do anything about it, and therefore understanding
what's actually going on from satellite imagery and all the
data that Noah collects may stand in the way. Is
that your sense.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
I definitely understand that concern, that is for sure, because
obviously we know that our climate is changing and extreme
events are becoming more frequent and in some cases, especially
with rainfall and flooding events around the world, and my
current job, we're monitoring that all over the globe.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
So we have to remember.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
That with climate change and with the extreme events at
least this is my personal kind of motive. Preparing for
the actual event itself, and my opinion, is more important
than actually preparing for the holistic climate change as a whole,
because the individual events themselves can more directly affect you
and your business and your family, and that is something
(14:00):
that I understand that the cuts my impact, and I
understand how partisan it can be this climate change issue.
But I firmly believe that whatever we can do, and
whatever Noah can do in the Weather Service, and don't
forget about Homeland Security and FEMA, whatever they can do
to continue to help us as a society prepare for
the extreme events, that is by far the priority when
(14:22):
it comes to climate change.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Well, how might scaling back noah research on climate change
make it harder to combat the impacts of climate change?
Speaker 4 (14:31):
So that's kind of difficult to answer, because I believe
that the research on climate change and the response to
climate change.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Should be two totally different efforts.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
I don't have insight exactly is how climate change research
is funded and which agency is doing it. I do
know that grants and money for risk mitigation can be
used for climate research, and that's very important. What I
mean by that is when you have a major event.
I remember this from working in Florida. You have a
few years like I think two thousand and four, two
(15:02):
thousand and five with many hurricanes hitting the state, and
then we've had a ration of hurricanes recently. Usually there's
money that's granted by the government in terms of mitigating
this risk for future occurrences. So if you pair the
research on climate change to the money that comes in
from mitigating that risk. I think that really targets the
right areas in terms of this preparedness arena. So I
(15:25):
do personally believe that NOAH should possibly be not solely
funded by the Department of Commerce. I think there should
be something. You know, this is a little bit outside
of my purview. I want to make the case again
that I think climate change research and response to actually
extreme events made worse by climate change should be two
completely separate efforts.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Interesting, but at the same time, you want to have
the big picture, because if you know that the climate
is changing and it's going to cause more extreme weather events,
you're better off probably than if you don't know what's
going on with the climate. You don't know what's going
on with sea level, you don't know what's going on
with the ocean currents, and all kinds of different things
that are going to impact what happens.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I could not agree with you more.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
The antithetical I guess to that is if money has
to be spent for preparing for something that might happen
fifty years from now due to climate change, versus being
spent on most critical life saving in the moment response
or preparedness for a catastrophe that's about to happen. I
certainly would argue if you have to make that horrible decision,
(16:30):
I would argue it needs to be made in the
near term of preparing for an extreme event.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
We're talking about this mostly as it relates to ordinary
people staying safe from disasters, etc. But as you've said,
you work with businesses these days. What kind of economic
impact do you think that these cuts to NOAH in
the National Weather Service will have for businesses that are
trying to measure their own risk.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
It's a great question.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
It kind of lines up with who I work for
in terms of, you know, the company I work for
helps businesses prepare for extreme weather or event. So there
are many private enterprise companies out there that can can
kind of fill that gap. But let's not forget a
lot of those private companies receive the data feeds from
NOAH and the National Weather Service.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
So it's kind of a double edged sword here.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
You can't, I guess, and simply stated, you can't bite
off the hand that feeds you, right, So we are
certainly as a private company and as me personally, I'm
certainly hoping for the very best to through this very
turbulent times at Noah, because we certainly need those life saving,
critical public safety services from all the agencies of Noah.
But if businesses are concerned, don't forget there is private
(17:34):
enterprise they can help them as well. And let's be real,
when you're a private business and you are responsible for
hundreds of other people that you that'll work for your company,
or maybe you're responsible for the bottom line of your business,
we often hear that businesses don't want to be in
the same line that the public is in terms of
getting their data from Noah. So private enterprise is certainly
provides more reliable data, more beefed up data to help
(17:57):
businesses in those situations.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Give me an example. You don't have to name names,
but like, tell me how you would prepare a business,
what business would be interested in, how a natural disaster
might affect them, and how do they plan for that
as they look ahead?
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Sure thing, I think utility companies, telecom companies. Those are
some very large operations that rely heavily on very accurate,
up to the minute, up to the second even weather data.
So like a utility company preparing for a major outage
telecom as well. Think about how much money it would
cost an airline if they make.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
A mistake even just staying on.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
The tarmac an extra thirty minutes, but they didn't expect,
like if all the fuel they're spending. So it's more
about obviously it's a dual full mission. It's about obviously
protecting lives and not only the lives of those businesses
as customers, but the business employees as well.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
But also equally.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Important is their bottom line and making sure they're staying
very efficient in what they do in avoiding weather disasters.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
So, Jeff, we've been talking about all the things that
people might miss if there are cuts. Are there you
know in the course of your career, are there grievances
that people have about Noah in the National Weather Service?
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Well, yeah, as I alluded to with my journey in
my career, you know, from commercial broadcast to then public broadcasts,
which when I was in the public space, I worked
hand in hand with Weather Service personnel, emergency management personnel
because I wasn't often as viewed as media. I was
more viewed as a partner. And now I work in
private enterprise. So, like I said, earlier.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
I understand that.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
I know the people that are in those chairs making
those really tough decisions.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
They're very dedicated.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
I certainly am very supportive of everything they do with
their job day in and day out.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
But in the.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Private enterprise space, I've been made aware and it's been
very obvious that there are some there seems to be
some deficiencies at times with data feeds, reliability of data.
I would say that that has gotten better in recent years,
but there's no doubt and I think it's been well documented.
There was even you know, some congressional investigation a few
years ago into the infrastructure behind Noah and what and
(19:58):
how to improve the infrastructre sure how to make sure
that data is reliable, redundant, and so I think that's
something that if there is something positive that could come
out of these cuts, is maybe looking into that and
figuring out maybe the allocation of resources to improve the reliability.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Of their data.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
And one more thing, you know, there's been a lot
we talked about funding research and projects. That's another thing
that just I have to I scratch my head a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Now.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
I'm not on you know, I don't want to say
that I'm there understanding every single challenge that Noah and
the Weather Service has. But a project such as FACETS,
which is a program that began in twenty fifteen for
it's called it stands for Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
It's a really great product when it gets done.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I mean we're sitting here a decade later and the
project is still in development. Stuff like that I scratch
my head about. And despite the negativity of the cuts,
I understand, I sure hope that that all gets cleared up.
I hope that something positive can come from the DOGE
efforts in this administration, and that just like several other agencies,
there's an identification of maybe what can be leaner, but
(21:02):
also what we need to bolster in terms of resources.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
So, Jeff, you're joining us from Huntsville, Alabama, in one
of the reddest of the red states. I wonder, you know,
as you think about this, like if I were to
go to that rally where Edward Markey in Massachusetts was
and everybody pulling their hair out saying, I can't believe
that these cuts are happening. This is going to harm us,
This is going to hurt us as a country, is
(21:27):
going to hurt the world. How do people feel where
you are about this and your colleagues, are they, oh
my gosh, I can't believe they're making cuts in the
National Weather Service? Are they sort of going, well, I
wonder what they're cutting? Is this going to be okay
in the end, that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Well, well, first of all, I like to say that
I usually say I'm from Huntsville, and I do not
mention the Alabama part. Huntsville is a very purple city
at least, you know, this area can be.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
So it's difficult.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
I've had some very difficult conversations with friends who work
at the Weather Service or friends in the broadcast industry.
You know, I think, at least for me, it's pretty
easy to point out the partisanship. I think a lot
of the claims that lives are going to be at stake,
some of that stuff is, like I mentioned earlier, not
necessarily apples to apples. It's more indirectly it could happen,
(22:13):
but it's more of a hypothetical. So I kind of
try to filter some of that out.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Even though I.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Understand that concern, and I understand that any type of
reduction in the resources to Noah and the Weather Service
could really compromise critical services. On the other side, I
have friends and family who are just cut it all,
you know, we don't need the Weather Service, blah blah blah.
Those are those are obviously uneducated opinions in terms of
where the data comes from. Like I mentioned earlier, nearly
(22:40):
every single weather app you open, or every single forecast
you see on TV, even if it's from a private enterprise,
chances are a significant portion of that data comes from
Noah and the Weather Service and we and it would
not be a good forecast without it, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Jeff I grew up in Tornado Alley in Champagne, Orbana, Illinois.
Lived in New York City during Hurricane Sandy. That was
pretty incredible to live through. But I just was in
Los Angeles for the wildfires, and that was by far
the scariest, you know, natural disaster that I've ever lived
(23:15):
through because it's so immediate. It's like, oh, the fire started,
you know, right around the corner from you, and it's gonna,
you know, grow exponentially in just a matter of minutes,
and you don't even know what's going on by the
time you have to get up and leave your house.
What about you, what's the what's the most intense weather
event that you've ever lived through?
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Well, ironically, that's where I got my passion for meteorology
and more importantly for the broadcast side, as I lived
through a couple of very close calls with tornadoes at
a young age in southern Missouri. And I've also been
a lightning strike victim. You may have not known that
about me in a car though I was saved from
the grounding of the car that was obviously I opening.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
And I've also seen.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Firsthand how flashed can move your car off the road.
So just under just like you, I mean, this weather
affects us all, and we all have to kind of
weather it together. And in these situations, I understand the
passion because of those who have been affected by extreme
weather events.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Obviously, when you.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
See that Noah's going to be cut, it probably leads
to some type of very extreme reaction and very big concern.
I understand that totally. Like I said earlier, with that
context and understanding that weather does affect us all, I
sure hope that the administration and those it does have
recognized that this is maybe an agency that if you
did need.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
To cut it.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
You needed to go in with a little bit more
with a fine tooth comb or a little more surgical
and it cuts.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
You know, maybe call me an optimist.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
Hopefully that will be recognized real soon in future updates
on this On this issue.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
That is Jeff Huffman, who's a weather communication specialist for
Barren Weather. He's a meteorologist joining us from Huntsville, Alabama. Jeff,
great to have you on the show.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Thank you so much, my pleasure, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
And thanks to you for listening to One Thing Trump did.
It was produced by Brandon Condritz and Harrison Fatino. Our
next middle episode will be in your podcast feed later
this week. We'll be live from Colorado Public Radio to
talk about the future of American energy. And if you
like this podcast, you can rate it wherever you get
your podcasts, Tell your friends and make sure you sign
up for automatic downloads. Our theme music was composed by
Noah Haidu. I'm Jeremy Hobson. Talk to you next time.
Host
Jeremy Hobson
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com