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Help wanted: National Weather Service seeks financial chief to institute “employee reductions”


Cory

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Texas with 13, California with 10, Florida with 7 and North Carolina/Indiana/Georgia with 6. These are the only states where there are 6 offices forecasting for parts of a specific state.

North Carolina has 7 (not 6: Knoxville covers two counties), and Kansas also has 7; EAX and SGF county warning areas includes a small part of the state. Nebraska, Missouri, and Minnesota each have 6 too.

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I love people here who just think they know everything about the NWS, what they do, and how they operate. If your not an NWS met I would stay away from speculating on how operations work and should work. These are some of the most dedicated folks out there and they work there butts off in an already short staffed environment as well as in a time when decision support is becoming more popular which means working more closely with LOCAL officials and forming relationships that help save money, lives, and property. They also provide aviation services, which many of you non mets have no clue what is even entailed at an NWS office.

Going off the rails but the restrictions they are currently under though as to what they can put in TAFs are very rough IMO, it really is restricting their ability to be accurate for the sake of verification.

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Aren't there rules regarding TEMPOs and PROBs for TS beyond or inside certain hours?

Yes, but that doesn't help our verification numbers. That's designed to be less ambiguous in the later periods. TAFs are scored for IFR in the first 6 hrs.

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Excellent post. Unfortunately the popular (and inaccurate) impression of lazy coffee-drinking government employees extends to the NWS as well. I wish NWS critics would go take a tour of their local WFO and see the massive amount of technology, knowledge, experience, outreach, and effort that it takes to carry out its mission.

No, then they can never be "right" again about something they know nothing about. Really tho, what's in the water lately? Is this national "look for something wrong with the NWS or make something up that's wrong about the NWS" month?

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Yeah, not to mention coop, hydro, marine, fire, case studies, local research, university collaboration, svr wx, winter wx, media support, hazard/event decision support, and community outreach.

But nope, the public forecast is all we do.

Wow, we do all that?!

whistle.gif

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Yes, this.

Maybe because the average Fed employee now makes more than the average private sector employee. Maybe. It isn't "public service" when one is very well compensated.

Just to be clear, I think we do need an effective NWS, I am not aware of any way to achieve cost savings from the NWS budget, and I don't doubt NWS employees, as a whole, are hard working people. Protecting life and property clearly fall within the orginal intent of the Constitution as far as the role of the Federal government.

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Maybe because the average Fed employee now makes more than the average private sector employee. Maybe. It isn't "public service" when one is very well compensated.

Just to be clear, I think we do need an effective NWS, I am not aware of any way to achieve cost savings from the NWS budget, and I don't doubt NWS employees, as a whole, are hard working people. Protecting life and property clearly fall within the orginal intent of the Constitution as far as the role of the Federal government.

The same is happening on the municipal, county and state level. Especially the county level.

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There are wage laws that place mandates on federal employers, unrealistically large wages is one of the many sources of the massive national debt. "Employee reductions" are unpleasant but meteorology is a constantly evolving field and now requires less manual input from forecasters because of computer models and automated systems. For me, the NWS is just another bloated governmental department. Meteorology as a career is nice but is not required to validate your passion for the weather. I was considering a career in the met field but i'm content with pursuing something else while keeping weather as personal adventure or hobby.

This is just following the general trend and decline of meteorology as a profitable scientific field, people shouldn't get upset about it and especially, not ask for higher wages.

Can I see your data?

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It's just hard for me to believe that there's even a basic understanding of the federal budget there if the claim is that the NWS is just another bloated government department.

I agree, but the few morons that believe this are an irrelevant minority and they can never back up their assertions. They always run and hide. lolz

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They don't gain anything because the general public does not look at them. I don't see how you can support anything associated with the federal government. I'm guessing you are a federal employee.

Fire wx and aviation are not for the general public. It's not surprising you don't know that.

Warnings are intended for the public though. What's the cost/benefit ratio associated with warnings?

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I'm not sure. I think most would agree they are necessary and beneficial, and not exactly costly financially. I'm sure it has saved some lives throughout the years. The general public usually recieves NWS products through the media or private wx sector.

So again, let me see your data.

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That fact that we cannot prove that NWS products are beneficial through statistical data...

The estimates are from detailed studies and they show immense value to the public from the NWS.

Your studies must have shown the opposite and all I'm asking is to see your data (estimates). You say you don't have any data so you can not be taken seriously.

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The truth is that I can not convince you that the NWS is not as necessary as you think it is, irregardless of any data that may exist. That federal paycheck is also the arbiter of what is legitimate....

The truth is you're just a blowhard without any data to back-up what you spew. Blah blah blah.

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The truth is that I can not convince you that the NWS is not as necessary as you think it is, irregardless of any data that may exist. That federal paycheck is also the arbiter of what is legitimate....

"Irregardless"? Really?

What is your point? Even if the public gets their warnings through the private sector, they still originate at the NWS. You're simplifying this to how many people get their daily HI75/LO50 forecast from weather.gov instead of weather.com ... that's an asinine evaluation of an entity's worth.

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Maybe because the average Fed employee now makes more than the average private sector employee.

False.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2012/11/19/white-collar-federal-worker-pay-nearly-35-percent-behind-private-sector-advisory-group-says/

Granted, we get better benefeits, but as far as salary goes, for employees with a bachelors or higher level of education (which most mets are), private sector pays more.

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