As of Tuesday, the National Weather Service’s Spokane office appears to have at least six job vacancies, according to a staff listingon the organization’s website.
The Spokane regional office serves 21 counties between eastern Washington and northern Idaho.
The vacancies include three general forecaster positions, two lead forecaster positions and a service hydrologist position.
Service hydrologists are typically responsible for in-depth forecasting, like reports on snowpack and flood risk, as well as things like drought information statements.
The weather service didn’t provide specific staffing updates related to any regional office. In February, cuts to the agency that were part of the Trump administration’s efforts to rein in federal spending resulted in the loss of around 600 employees nationwide. In June, it announced it would hire more than 100 employees to “stabilize operations,” according to a report by NPR.
Kris Crocker, the chief meteorologist at KXLY in Spokane, said she has worked closely with staff at the National Weather Service for more than 30 years, including 27 years in Spokane.
“There were some retirements that were planned, and then some other retirements that I did not know about that came up rather suddenly,” Crocker said.
She said that in her time working in Spokane, she’s never seen so many vacancies at once.
“They’re coveted positions,” Crocker said. “There have been times when, because of various things going on in the government — it is a government agency — there may be a delay in filling a position. But no, I've never seen this before.”
Erica Grow Cei, a spokesperson for the weather service, said the organization was taking steps to address those who took a voluntary early retirement.
“A targeted number of permanent, mission-critical field positions will soon be advertised under an exception to the department-wide hiring freeze to further stabilize frontline operations,” she said in an emailed statement.
Grow Cei said the weather service is also conducting short-term temporary duty assignments and is conducting a series of reassignment opportunity notices to fill roles at field locations with the greatest operational need.
In light of the Texas flash floods that killed more than 100 people over the Fourth of July weekend, some members of the public and lawmakers have speculated about whether staffing cuts may have hampered communication of the catastrophic flood.
Crocker said she hasn’t noticed any weaknesses in the Spokane office’s critical services. However, some items are no longer being updated, such as a blog that provided in-depth weatherupdates, safety information and tips.
Regional offices, in addition to 24/7 forecasting, provide public education and coordinate timely safety warnings for community leaders and people in areas affected by extreme weather events such as flood, fire, wind, lightning and more.
“ They have been quietly saving lives behind the scenes for decades,” Crocker said. “I hope that we don't find out how important they are the hard way when we do have the next big windstorm or the next big fire, and they are scrambling to get the word out.”
The offices also provide detailed reports to emergency responders, such as firefighters. During fire season, Crocker said, fire management teams might request spot forecasts from the weather service to provide detailed information for a particular area.
“Any wildland firefighter will tell you that is crucial information,” Crocker said.
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