Winter Banter 24-25

[GaWx]

32 minutes ago, GaWx said:

 What does “at NOAA’s EMC responsible for keeping all US weather model systems running” mean specifically? Does this mean instead of humans operating the computers that the models would just run automatically? I kind of thought they pretty much already did. If so, is it possible that this change would be a legit way to increase efficiency without decreasing what NOAA provides to the public? I’m trying to keep an open mind to some cuts as long as they wouldn’t undermine the services provided. Even if so, the one hour notice seems awfully abrupt!

From something I just read elsewhere, the impact of this may be the US models not running when there’s an outage and thus having to rely on foreign global models. I assume this may mean no short term models run other than RGEM til the outage is fixed. We need more info to decipher exactly what this would actually mean for the US models.

[Roger Smith]

A reminder to enter March forecast contest in 2025 contest thread. 

[Rjay]

 

[Rjay]

 

[Rjay]

 

[Stormlover74]

Fuckers

[MJO812]

Musk is a loser 

[GaWx]

Just now, MJO812 said:

Musk is a loser 

Who hired Musk to do this?

[JonClaw]

I see the usual forum to go to talk about this here got nuked so I'll leave my two cents here:

This is the dumbest timeline. We have the stupidest electorate giving the most idiotic people power to rip the guts out of agencies that do a lot of good work for the American people. As a long-time weather hobbyist, these (illegal) firings at NOAA/NWS hurt the most. It's disgusting that these cuts will likely go to tax cuts for rich folk, while the rest of us suffer from reduced government services. The long-term loss of talent and knowledge will have far-reaching consequences to everyone.

[Feen]

43 minutes ago, MJO812 said:

Musk is a loser 

Musk should concentrate on fraud not things that actually help American people. 

[BlizzLuv]

2 minutes ago, Feen said:

Musk should concentrate on fraud not things that actually help American people. 

Anything that they do not like, they call "fraud". Fuck them. This is going to have dangerous impact on aviation and shipping.

[Rjay]

8 minutes ago, Feen said:

Musk should concentrate on fraud not things that actually help American people. 

No one would argue with going after fraud but this is not what it's ever been about. 

[Rjay]

I understand your frustration Andy but I can't allow that post in here. 

[Rjay]

I respect our meteorologists so you can post a toned down version if you'd like @andyhb 

[Rjay]

This is a wx forum so I'm surprised at the lack of posts about this topic. 

[SnowGoose69]

For the time being I believe a federal judge has stopped this, unless I am misunderstanding.  If true I guess these employees would all be reinstated for the time being and have to hope that in the time it takes for this to go to the SC they can be convinced that cutting from this sector is not smart.  It would almost certainly be upheld there but they'd have a few months probably to prove their case they should not go ahead with it

[Feen]

20 minutes ago, Rjay said:

No one would argue with going after fraud but this is not what it's ever been about. 

I agree, there's plenty of fraud but cutting funding for weather and essential daily things is not right!

[IrishRob17]

10 minutes ago, Rjay said:

This is a wx forum so I'm surprised at the lack of posts about this topic. 

Give it time? Or people won't see this as their heads are buried in the sand?

[hudsonvalley21]

Pure stupidity, some departments should not be messed with. What’s next cutting Air Traffic Controllers? when it comes to public safety all you need is one blip to have a casualty. With Tornado season approaching, could you imagine staffing cuts at SPC?

[Stormlover74]

17 minutes ago, hudsonvalley21 said:

Pure stupidity, some departments should not be messed with. What’s next cutting Air Traffic Controllers? when it comes to public safety all you need is one blip to have a casualty. With Tornado season approaching, could you imagine staffing cuts at SPC?

That happened a month ago

[Nibor]

Can't wait for the private sector to take over the NWS and NOAA all to stifle scientific innovation and charge insane rates to the government so some billionaire can finance another mega yacht.

[the ghost of OT]

25 minutes ago, Nibor said:

Can't wait for the private sector to take over the NWS and NOAA all to stifle scientific innovation and charge insane rates to the government so some billionaire can finance another mega yacht.

“space x engineers” are going to be working on it

[GaWx]

3 hours ago, Rjay said:

 

At another site’s forum I posted the above tweet. A knowledgeable pro met there responded to me:

“Something doesn't add up here because Alaska has been expanding AUTOMATED balloon launches across the state that don't require humans.

This sounds like it could be part of that project.

  NOAA adopts technology to automate weather balloon launches

                   Demonstration project underway as Alaska receives first autolaunch stations” 

 My comment: This link dates way back to 5/7/2018:

https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-adopts-technology-to-automate-weather-balloon-launches

After nearly two years of field testing the technology in Kodiak, NWS has initiated a demonstration of autolaunchers in Alaska, with two of the state’s 13 upper-air sites already using them. Annette, Alaska, will receive an autolaunch system this month, and the technology will be installed across the state’s remaining 10 sites over the next two years.”

[donsutherland1]

Today's firing of NWS and NOAA personnel is about as appalling a development as can be.

In A.G. Riddle’s The Long Winter Trilogy, humanity faces an unfeeling force of destruction—the Harvester. This alien machine does not negotiate, does not pause, and does not care. It exists solely to extract energy from stars, including our Sun, draining it relentlessly while life on Earth shivers and fades into darkness. The Harvester does not acknowledge suffering. It does not see the devastation it leaves in its wake. It consumes, and the world dies.

But this is no longer science fiction. The United States now faces its own Harvester—one not born in the emptiness of space, but in the corridors of unchecked power. In the opening days of the Trump administration, Elon Musk and his DOGE entity emerged—not through democratic process, not through congressional approval, but by executive fiat. Like the Harvester, DOGE was created for one purpose: extraction.

The rhetoric of “efficiency,” “cost-saving,” and “government reform” is seductive. But beneath these noble-sounding claims lies a much darker reality. Musk and DOGE are not restructuring the federal government to improve it. They are stripping it for parts. They fire workers unlawfully, terminate vital contracts without cause, and consume vast amounts of private data. They suffocate research by cutting critical funding, impose crippling layoffs on the National Weather Service, and collude with Republican lawmakers to siphon wealth from Medicaid and public health initiatives, all to redirect that money into their own coffers via misguided tax cuts that serve no meaningful macroeconomic purpose.

Musk, DOGE, and their allies are not just attacking government institutions. They are devouring the ethical foundation of democracy itself. They are dismantling the compassion that fueled the nation’s pursuit of a “more perfect Union.” They are obliterating the moderation that once guided civil discourse and policy. They are strangling the empathy that holds society together. And they are doing it by design.

They do not care about the consequences. Families left jobless, children gone hungry, scientific advancements lost, and the lives put at risk don’t matter to them. Like the Harvester, they extract. They consume. Then, they will move on.

Today, the courts struggle to contain the DOGE Blitzkrieg. Congressional opposition remains divided and hesitant. Corporations bow before the new order.

But the people still hold power. The Harvester only wins if we surrender in silence. The dismantling of democracy is a lengthy hollowing-out before the collapse. Collapse is only made possible by the apathy of those who refuse to resist.

Elie Wiesel, who bore witness to some of history’s darkest times, left us with this charge: “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” That time for protest is now.

[WE GOT HIM]

wow

[hazwoper]

Its an absolute travesty.

[WE GOT HIM]

If anyone is looking for OT, we've all been on the discord link in my bio. been talking about all the craziness all day

 

 

[ForestHillWx]

Just to play devils advocate, and with the risk of committing heresy, according to the Times article today, NOAA employs approximately 13k people; 800 were let go. 

Could more cuts be coming, of course. But perhaps it will be ok… and if it isn’t, the electorate can go another direction in 2026. 

[Krs4Lfe]

Is there a place where we post about nationwide severe weather just like we have a Tropical weather sub forum ? I know each region usually posts their own threads on it but I think it would be more useful to have a subforum dedicated to it. 

[SnoSki14]

20 minutes ago, ForestHillWx said:

Just to play devils advocate, and with the risk of committing heresy, according to the Times article today, NOAA employs approximately 13k people; 800 were let go. 

Could more cuts be coming, of course. But perhaps it will be ok… and if it isn’t, the electorate can go another direction in 2026. 

The amount of damage that will be done before then will be immeasurable.