The Trump Administration has shut down a training program which prepares meteorologists for natural disasters, which some say could have devastating consequences.
In the White House’s latest round of government downsizing, federal officials cancelled incident meteorologist training for members of the National Weather Service (NWS).
The course provides special training for NWS forecasters, certifying that these individuals know how to give accurate weather reports to emergency crews during major disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and wildfires.
The move is already causing panic within the agency, with one anonymous source telling The Hill that cancelling the training could leave Americans ill-prepared for the country’s next extreme weather event.
According to an email addressing the situation, the training was cancelled due to staffing shortages and new restrictions on how much government employees can spend on travel.
NWS is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and both agencies fall under the authority of the US Department of Commerce (DoC).
This week, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced the cancellation of more than 200,000 employee credit cards, including more than 11,000 from DoC.
This reportedly included travel cards used by NWS members that would have attended the incident meteorologist training.
The Trump Administration has cancelled incident meteorologist training for member of the National Weather Service who specialize in forecasts during disasters
Incident meteorologists are often called in to work with local and state fire departments during wildfires, like the recent disaster in Los Angeles, California
A senior official with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told The Hill: ‘The bottom line is we are no longer paying for non-employee travel. We are only authorizing travel for mission critical programs, this isn’t one.’
DHS oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is also cancelling their own disaster training courses due to the budget cuts.
On Tuesday, DOGE posted on X that of the more than 285,000 credit cards being used by employees in 16 government agencies, just 81,000 are still active.
The cost-cutting decisions come after a devastating series of wildfires ravaged the Los Angeles area in January.
The month-long blaze is now being called one of the costliest natural disasters in America history, causing over $250 billion in damage.
During a wildfire, incident meteorologists (IMETs) work with state and local fire control agencies, as well as the US Forest Service, providing real-time data on everything from wind patterns to thunderstorms.
This helps everyone fighting the fires know what’s coming and where to go as the weather influences the course of the blaze.
According to NWS, an IMET can be on the scene of a natural disaster within 24 to 48 hours. However, much of that depends of their mode of travel – with the cost now potentially causing a new issue.
Lynn Budd, the director of Wyoming’s Office of Homeland Security, said: ‘They’re there to help us make that prediction so we can protect lives and property as incidents evolve.’
Meanwhile, the New York Times revealed this weekend that the Trump Administration is prepared to fire over 1,000 employees from NOAA.
Combined with previous layoffs and resignations this year, NOAA will soon have lost 20 percent of their agency’s workforce.
In a February 25 statement, NOAA officials wrote: ‘If not stopped, further action by the administration to interfere with NOAA’s critical services and mission could endanger our economy, health, public safety, and national security.’
‘Undermining NOAA’s operations could risk the safety of millions of Americans and destabilize countless industries, from farming and fisheries to energy and finance, threatening job losses and economic downturn,’ the agency added.
DOGE revealed that over 200,000 credit cards used by government employees for expenses and travel have been cancelled
The Department of Commerce oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service
Last March, 70 IMETs working with NOAA gathered in Boise, Idaho to take this training and prepare for the upcoming wildfire season.
NOAA officials said in a 2024 statement: ‘During training, IMETs learn how a fire reacts to certain weather, fuel and terrain.’
‘They also learn forecasting for fire weather in complex mountain terrain from Alaska to the Appalachians.’
As of last year, NOAA had 90 certified IMETS and 36 trainees ready to travel throughout the country and forecast extreme conditions during natural disasters.
New trainees need more than 250 hours of training of IMET training to become certified.
However, that training only comes after the several years it can take to get a meteorology degree, land an job with NWS, and rack up enough forecasting experience for the agency to pick that meteorologist for the IMET course.
Simply put, the number of IMETs available do not grow quickly, and now the training to certify new officials may be disappearing too.
