How Will NOAA Layoffs Affect San Diego?

Speaking about weather — did you see our first post of snow at Mt Laguna?

Today’s Axios San Diego looks at the NOAA layoff risk and what it means for us in San Diego. The brief report by Andrew Keatts, Andrew Freedman and Kate Murphy concluded that “it’s not yet clear how cuts to the weather and climate agency will affect San Diego,” despite the Trump administration laying off about 800 so-called “probationary” workers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last Thursday, Feb. 27.

They found that “as of Friday afternoon, Axios learned there were no cuts to the local NWS office, where 22 employees are responsible for around-the-clock forecasts for the San Diego region.” This is good news because “The coverage area it is responsible for is home to the third largest population of any NWS field office in the country.”

Here’s more of their report:

NOAA’s San Diego footprint includes not only the National Weather Service field office, but the organization is also a major funder of research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO).

The big picture: The NOAA layoffs come as climate change causes more intense and frequent weather and climate extremes. …

San Diego’s NWS office in the last 18 months has been responsible for warning residents of threats posed by extreme weather events like January’s powerful Santa Ana winds, last year’s destructive and historic flash floods, and the “rare and dangerous” Tropical Storm Hilary.

The intrigue: UC San Diego’s Scripps, where modern climate science began and where some of the field’s most significant research continues, received 14% — about $42 million — of its sponsored research funding in fiscal year 2023-24 from NOAA. It’s unclear what specific programs might be cut, but some NOAA-supported research at Scripps could be at stake if the federal government follows through with slashing the agency’s budget.

Yes, but: The Mauna Loa Observatory, a NOAA facility on the Mauna Loa Volcano on the island of Hawaii, had not been disrupted as of Friday morning, SIO’s director of communications said. The Keeling Curve, a long-running record of carbon in the atmosphere directed by SIO researcher Ralph Keeling, relies on readings from the observatory.