You know it's fcuked up when the weatherman loses hope!
A veteran meteorologist warns that federal budget cuts are degrading hurricane forecast accuracy.
www.yahoo.com
Despondent weatherman goes off-script on live TV to explain why he ‘can’t’ forecast anymore
Evan Porter
Mon, August 24, 2026 at 1:40 PM CDT
5 min read
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I will admit that I hardly ever watch the
news on television, especially not for the weather. It's just so much easier to pick up my phone and check Google or The Weather Channel. I just want to know how warm it's going to be or how likely it is to rain. These days, I can find that out in about 10 seconds and go about my day.
But when there's potential danger, hurricanes, storms that might knock out the power of topple over trees, tornado warnings, or threats of ice and snow, my trusty local meteorologist or
weatherman is always there. All of that said, I've never once considered that I might not be able to get my weather
forecast from either source, at least not accurately. It's 2025, our weather modeling should be better than ever, state of the art, right?
John Morales, a meteorologist and hurricane specialist with NBC6 in South Florida, was reporting on an upcoming storm when he suddenly shifted gears, right in the middle of the broadcast.
A weatherman's on-air confession
Morales explains that in his 34 years of presenting the weather, he's always been able to confidently tell his viewers when a hurricane might hit, or when it might turn away. He's always been able to stand behind his data, modeling, and forecast in order to help protect the people of South Florida.
"I am here to tell you that I am not sure I can do that this year."
Why? "Because of the cuts, the gutting, the sledgehammer attack on science in general."
Morales then pulled up a graphic instead of his usual weather
map. It laid out some stark realities about severe understaffing of the National Weather Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Between brutal layoffs, employees accepting the recent DOGE buyout, and straight-up resignations, the agencies responsible for collecting weather data
have lost hundreds and hundreds of valuable experts.
Why weather data is disappearing
He also explained that due to federal government budget cuts, there's been a sizable decrease in weather balloon launches across the country. Weather balloons are instruments that take crucial measurements of the upper atmosphere and send data that helps with forecasting. With less data available, and lower quality data, Morales say that "the quality of forecasts is becoming degraded."
That's a pretty scary thought, especially in a place like South Florida. What do you do when your local meteorologist can't predict what a powerful hurricane will do next?
"This is a multi-generational impact on science in this country," Morales warns.
Almost nine million people viewed the powerful clip on X. It was reshared over 26,000 times. Morales' message is definitely getting the attention it deserves.
The bigger picture behind the cuts
It's not just the National Weather Service that's bleeding. In the name of efficiency, The White House has
slashed budgets at the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and more. Trimming the federal budget sounds well and good until you realize that we won't be making any major cancer breakthroughs any time soon without funding the research. And we won't be able to protect people from hurricanes and tornadoes without complete weather data.
(And yes, even the Weather app on your iPhone needs a database to pull from.)