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

[Sean Donelan]

On Sat, 20 Jun 2015, Gary Timm wrote:
> 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.

The Senate Commerce Committee is tabling a controversial proposal that 
would consolidate National Weather Service (NWS) forecasting into 6 
regional offices.    But it is moving forward with legislation that aims 
to improve NWS severe weather communication.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/06/22/senate-backs-off-nws-restructuring-proposal-puts-emphasis-on-severe-weather-communication/