[EAS] Senate Bill Could Cut NWS Offices from 122 to 6

[Gary Timm]

This is the first I've heard of this disastrous Senate Bill...

There are 122 National Weather Service offices nationwide, but there's a plan being floated in the U.S. Senate to reduce the number of those offices to just six, meaning many jobs could be lost. The National Weather Service forecasts and warns the public from its offices. The Senate bill would centralize the offices, combining all of the locations into six regional offices.
On June 15, 2015, the National Weather Service Improvement Act (S. 1573) was introduced by Senator Thune (R-SD). It will be marked up by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on June 24. Senator Thune chairs the Committee. As introduced the bill would establish six consolidated NWS offices. The 122 individual Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) would remain open, but be staffed by only a Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM). Emergency managers from across the country are expressing strong concerns about the impact.

Link to the Bill:
www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/?a=files.serve&File_id=aac9dcff-db4b-4b35-8c39-42c28fe72b00

Link to TV news story:
www.newson6.com/story/29337502/a-senate-bill-could-cut-the-number-of-weather-service-offices-from-122-to-just-6
Gary Timm
WI SECC