New Mexico National Weather Service offices shortstaffed

New Mexico’s National Weather Service forecast offices are facing a significant drop in staffing amid a summer monsoon season that has spawned tragedies like the flooding that claimed the lives of three people, including two children, in Ruidoso on Tuesday.

The vacancy rate in Albuquerque’s Weather Service forecast office is twice as high now than it was prior to the enactment of Trump administration cost-cutting measures such as voluntary buyouts and early retirement, according to data from the National Weather Service Employees Organization.

The Albuquerque weather forecast office, which covers two-thirds of New Mexico, including Ruidoso, is down five meteorologists out of 15, said Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the labor organization.

The vacancy rate for meteorologists at the Albuquerque office is 33.33%, while the overall vacancy rate at the office since May 1 is 31%, said Fahy in an interview from Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. That compares to a 15% vacancy rate prior to Trump taking office, according to the organization’s data.

The Albuquerque vacancies, which include the lead forecast meteorologist, leave 10 meteorologists covering the office. The office is short eight out of 26 positions, when fully staffed.

Agency offices in Midland, Texas, and El Paso are faring better than Albuquerque, with vacancy rates of about 23%, Fahy told the Journal.

Whether the short staffing will have any effect on weather predictions in New Mexico remains to be seen. Weather Service employees in Albuquerque reached by the Journal on Wednesday declined to say when asked how the vacancies have affected operations.

One employee, who asked not to be quoted by name, told the Journal the Weather Service forecasting jobs are “public safety positions,” and while the vacancies here haven’t reached the “critical level,” that could change if just one more employee leaves.

Overall, the Weather Service nationwide has lost about 600 employees due to staff cuts, voluntary departures and other reductions this year, representing a 15% reduction in staff. Some weather forecasting offices have been hit harder than others, with The Associated Press reporting in April that 55 of the 122 forecasting offices in the U.S. had vacancy rates of 20% and higher.

Many fear the job cuts will hurt the federal government’s ability to provide the public timely and accurate forecasts. Some Democrats in Congress are linking the reduced ranks of Weather Service employees to the central Texas flooding that left at least 119 people dead and 170 missing.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has asked for a formal investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department inspector general into whether vacancies at key National Weather Service offices “contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding.”

Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said local and federal weather services gave early and consistent warnings prior to the flooding, and that the National Weather Service offices in Texas were “fully staffed.”

The Trump administration a month ago allowed the National Weather Service to hire 126 meteorologists and other specialists, but the jobs have yet to be posted on the federal government’s USAjobs.gov website.