Nebraska U.S. Rep Mike Flood, R-Neb., during his town hall in Lincoln on Aug 4. 2025. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN – The National Weather Service announced this month 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 in a statement.
The National Weather Service office in Valley, Neb., is shown in July 2024. (Courtesy of Van DeWald/National Weather Service via NWS Omaha Facebook page)
Flood led the push among Nebraska’s federal delegation to reverse a DOGE cut that caused a Weather Service office in the Omaha area and 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 Weather Service office has said it still faces staffing issues.
Retiring U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., 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 forecasting offices that cover some rural parts of western and southwestern Nebraska to no longer monitor local weather around-the-clock, which Nebraska and local rural weather experts said threatens public safety.
Flood has introduced bipartisan-backed legislation that would make it harder for National Weather Service employees to be fired in the future.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent,” Flood said in June. “Everybody wants accurate weather forecasting.”
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
