The president's proposed 2013 budget is calling for more drastic and potentially dangerous cuts to National Weather Service (NWS) funding on the order of $39 million dollars, according to a press release from the National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO). This proposal could limit emergency response and slow important forecasts to the public in dangerous severe weather events.
The current cuts call for the elimination of the Information Technology Officer (ITO) at weather forecast offices across the nation. This position is critical to operations at each office and with the ITO also serving as a meteorologist, they are able to assist with critical forecast operations and warning release. This is an important part of their job because many offices are already only staffed for "fair weather events," and need more meteorologists during severe weather events in order to promply release critical severe weather warnings.
NWSEO President Dan Sobien had this to say about the proposed cuts...
"The ITO position is crucial to the lifesaving work of weather forecast offices. These are the guys who ensure our technology is working and our forecasts are accurate. Without an ITO on site, responses will be slower and lives will be lost during extreme weather events. This is an alarming move backwards when it comes to protecting the public."
Other proposed cuts to NWS funding include elimination on funding for improving hurricane intensity forecasts and the air quality forecasts. Both of these are likely to have signifcant impacts on the public with a potential disastrous weather event killing citizens that could have easily been prevented with the proper funding of the National Weather Service.
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