Meteorologist Shortage - NWS RAH

[JQPublic]

Thought this would be of interest. Please move if inappropriate.

http://www.wral.com/weather-service-meteorologist-issues-warning-staff-shortage-could-endanger-lives/17119619/

 

Quote

Weather Service meteorologist issues warning: Staff shortage could endanger lives

Posted 6:36 p.m. today

WEATHER

RALEIGH, N.C. — The National Weather Service bureau in Raleigh has been severely understaffed for months, and meteorologists in the Triangle say the situation could put people in jeopardy.

Senior Forecaster Brandon Locklear said the staffing is as low as it's been in his 19-year career. The Weather Service office on North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus is supposed to have 13 meteorologists on staff, but it has only eight. Agency administrators have been promising more help in Raleigh for a year, he said, but every shift has to be covered in the meantime.

"We have people that are working 21 straight days. We have people that are working 19 and 20 hours straight," Locklear said.

Tracking weather patterns and analyzing data is demanding, technical work, and severe weather events such as tornadoes, hurricanes and winter storms require more staff. Locklear said the Weather Service meteorologists can't afford to miss anything.

"I think we're cutting it very close. We're playing Russian roulette," he said.

WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said he and other forecasters depend on the Weather Service as the authority for the storm watches and warnings on which people's lives sometimes depend.

"This is one of the most important things the government does," Fishel said. "The problem is that they're so good at what they do that they pull off miracles all the time, and the more you pull off miracles, the more people come to expect it. I think that's probably the problem right now – are we going to wait till the miracle fails and then do something about it, or are we going to be proactive and do something about it now?"

Weather Service spokeswoman Susan Buchanan said the agency had 286 vacancies nationwide as of last week and is in the process of hiring people to fill 248 of them. A general forecaster will start in Raleigh the week after Thanksgiving, she said.

"The National Weather Service is actively working to fill vacancies throughout the agency to the extent our appropriation allows," Buchanan said in an email to WRAL News. "We continue to provide the critical forecasts and warnings that the nation needs and expects."

Locklear said it's only a matter of time until the overtaxed staff in Raleigh makes a mistake.

"When you take a labor force and you just work them and they get burned out and exhausted, something's going to slip through the cracks," he said. "At what cost?"

CREDITS

Reporter

Laura Leslie

Photographer

Tom Normanly

Web Editor

Matthew Burns

 

Copyright 2017 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[kvegas-wx]

What are their outreach efforts at the high school level?  I've never seen an article that shows a meteorologist is a lucrative career.  Are they at career days on college campuses?  I just put two kids through high school and into college and as much as we talk weather in my house, neither one of them said anything about the field being promoted academically at their schools.

If you need 'em, go find 'em.......in high school!

[Upstate Tiger]

That's interesting to see.  I have a friend whose son in law graduated with a degree in meteorology a couple of years ago from UNC Charlotte and he was telling me that most of his classmates had to find jobs in other fields because there was a glut of meteorology grads in the job market.  I wonder if the problem cited in the article is a lack of candidates or just the government not hiring/filling the positions at the NWS?

[isohume]

18 minutes ago, Upstate Tiger said:

That's interesting to see.  I have a friend whose son in law graduated with a degree in meteorology a couple of years ago from UNC Charlotte and he was telling me that most of his classmates had to find jobs in other fields because there was a glut of meteorology grads in the job market.  I wonder if the problem cited in the article is a lack of candidates or just the government not hiring/filling the positions at the NWS?

That. 

[tramadoc]

When President Trump took office he implemented an immediate hiring freeze to reduce the number of government employees. Staffs are being reduced government wide with no new positions, and positions reduced through retirement without hiring employees to fill those positions. I just retired from the federal government in June and my position was considered mission critical and DHS still had to apply to OPM for a waiver to fill my position.

[JQPublic]

Interesting perspectives

[Wow]

Raise salaries... oh wait.

[tramadoc]

I didn't get raises 6 of the 8 years Obama was in office. COLA increases, when we did get them from his administration, was 1.1 and 1.3% respectively. The private sector was getting annual COLA's of 2% per year, in line with inflation rates. I don't fault him or his administration because of the financial mess he inherited, but it would have been nice to get increases commensurate with inflation increase standards. Just the POV from a retired federal employee.

[weaponxreject]

Would anyone happen to know what the general requirements (experience wise) are to fill the kinds of positions discussed in the article?

I ask because I actually live less than an hour from this office, and I start school in January with the goal of becoming a meteorologist. I guess, being a long time lurker here, that now is as good a time as any to ask about the best way to go about ensuring my future in the field academically and professionally! I'm 31, and after years of bouncing around post-military I've decided to head back to the community college near me with the hopes of transferring to NC State, if not one of the other four years in NC. I know math and physics are both disciplines that will play a large part in my future, but are there any other classes/studies I should take to improve my chances of success? Anything I should start looking into now (organizations, clubs, internships, etc.) for during school or after graduating?

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[SN_Lover]

On 11/18/2017 at 0:28 PM, tramadoc said:

I didn't get raises 6 of the 8 years Obama was in office. COLA increases, when we did get them from his administration, was 1.1 and 1.3% respectively. The private sector was getting annual COLA's of 2% per year, in line with inflation rates. I don't fault him or his administration because of the financial mess he inherited, but it would have been nice to get increases commensurate with inflation increase standards. Just the POV from a retired federal employee.

Government pay is lower than private sector, that's just how it is. Very seldom do they get a market rate adjustment. Think the state of NC had that a few years back, but that was it. 

[tramadoc]

I do know that during the final years of the Clinton administration and during all 8 years under Bush 2, we got COLA increases ranging from 2.1% to 3.3% every year. It all stopped under Obama until his last two years in office. I understand why he did that though. The fiscal damage that was done to the government trying to fight wars on two fronts cost this country. Not only monetarily, but also the physical toll on soldiers and families of soldiers.

[isohume]

3 hours ago, weaponxreject said:

Would anyone happen to know what the general requirements (experience wise) are to fill the kinds of positions discussed in the article?

I ask because I actually live less than an hour from this office, and I start school in January with the goal of becoming a meteorologist. I guess, being a long time lurker here, that now is as good a time as any to ask about the best way to go about ensuring my future in the field academically and professionally! I'm 31, and after years of bouncing around post-military I've decided to head back to the community college near me with the hopes of transferring to NC State, if not one of the other four years in NC. I know math and physics are both disciplines that will play a large part in my future, but are there any other classes/studies I should take to improve my chances of success? Anything I should start looking into now (organizations, clubs, internships, etc.) for during school or after graduating?

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

The future of the NWS is decsion support...meaning you'll want addtional communiation skills outside of a degree. There are going to be fewer vacancies through time as the NWS reorganizes. So with the increase in competition, I highly suggest gaining hands on experience beginning in your junior year through volunterships or pathways. 

[isohume]

Okay hotshots, here's your chance to put your money where your mouth is. Many entry level positions beginning to open up starting with wrn region! 

[Brick Tamland]

I'm available. 

[weaponxreject]

The future of the NWS is decsion support...meaning you'll want addtional communiation skills outside of a degree. There are going to be fewer vacancies through time as the NWS reorganizes. So with the increase in competition, I highly suggest gaining hands on experience beginning in your junior year through volunterships or pathways. 

I kind of expected the number of vacancies would be less by the time I graduate, at least I hope they will be. I plan on trying to reach out as early as possible in my academic transition towards internships and the like, but when you say communication skills I have a couple of thoughts. Would a minor in, say, public policy or communication (or something within those realms) be a good way to go? Aside from public speaking courses and such, what would be some solid classes to look at taking, that would fulfill GE electives (obviously the specific courses would vary school to school, I'm just looking for a broad answer, if at all possible)? I know broadcasting is something that won't be in my future, I am too heavily (and visibly) tattooed with several large gauge piercings. While that, I assume, would prevent me from working in that field without some serious plastic surgery, I hope the more "behind the scenes", so to speak, types of forecasting and researching won't be as prohibitive. I'm just wanting to more or less pad my resume as much as possible to leverage against my age (31) and appearance. Being a disabled veteran as well, as far as government positions go, I have a ten point advantage in the hiring process, but I know that doesn't really mean much except a slight boost.

Sorry for the wall of text, just have a lot of unknowns concerning the professional side of meteorology and atmospheric science, versus the science side of it.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[isohume]

On 12/1/2017 at 2:03 AM, weaponxreject said:

I kind of expected the number of vacancies would be less by the time I graduate, at least I hope they will be. I plan on trying to reach out as early as possible in my academic transition towards internships and the like, but when you say communication skills I have a couple of thoughts. Would a minor in, say, public policy or communication (or something within those realms) be a good way to go? Aside from public speaking courses and such, what would be some solid classes to look at taking, that would fulfill GE electives (obviously the specific courses would vary school to school, I'm just looking for a broad answer, if at all possible)? I know broadcasting is something that won't be in my future, I am too heavily (and visibly) tattooed with several large gauge piercings. While that, I assume, would prevent me from working in that field without some serious plastic surgery, I hope the more "behind the scenes", so to speak, types of forecasting and researching won't be as prohibitive. I'm just wanting to more or less pad my resume as much as possible to leverage against my age (31) and appearance. Being a disabled veteran as well, as far as government positions go, I have a ten point advantage in the hiring process, but I know that doesn't really mean much except a slight boost.

Sorry for the wall of text, just have a lot of unknowns concerning the professional side of meteorology and atmospheric science, versus the science side of it.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

I wouldn't "waste" a minor on communication. If you're going to get a minor, you should keep it earth science or math. I'd just make sure you log all your college presentations in your resume, especially your senior thesis. You can gain additional speaking experience through toastmasters, etc if you're so ambitious. Your biggest key to an intern spot would be a voluntership, which it sounds like you'll pursue. You'd be surprised how many undergrads don't find a way to do this.