By Mary O’KEEFE

I get a ton of information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, best known as NOAA. Some may think that NOAA only provides weather information and, since we have so many meteorologist at so many television, radio and social media platforms we really don’t need NOAA. However, those “some” who believe that we don’t need NOAA are wrong. 

Most of those meteorologist weather oracles get much of their information from NOAA and satellites from which NOAA collects data. On Wednesday, NOAA’s top scroll on their website was about the powerful storm impacting the eastern half of the country, and just below that was information on what to do before, during and after a tornado. Experts shared information on the science that supports the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport aircraft collision recovery, and the hottest Earth has ever been and information on LA wildfires and how they affect California’s marine life. 

“NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep the public informed of the changing environment around them,” according to its website.

Did you know NOAA also assesses and predicts the status of fish stocks, sets catch limits, ensures compliance with fisheries regulations and reduces bycatch? 

“If you fish, you know that healthy waters mean better fishing – and no agency does more to sustain marine fisheries and habitats than the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),” according to author Brian Bennett, “Tomorrow’s Fish” in Fly Fisherman. 

NOAA also monitors, predicts and researches hurricanes. 

According to NOAA, its upgraded model in predicting and charting hurricanes improved forecast accuracy when tested over a three-year period, with 8% better predictions for track and 10% better predictions for intensity. 

For us in California, it is NOAA that sets the Red Flag and High Wind warnings. It monitors El Niño and La Niña conditions and our Santa Anas. It also works with other agencies, like NASA, on environmental monitoring satellites on development and operations. 

NOAA was established in 1979 but it can trace its heritage back over 200 years. 

“In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson founded the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (as the Survey of the Coast) to provide nautical charts to the maritime community for safe passage into American ports and along our extensive coastline. The Weather Bureau was founded in 1870 and, one year later, the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries was founded. Individually, these organizations were America’s first physical science agency, America’s first agency dedicated specifically to the atmospheric sciences, and America’s first conservation agency,” according to noaa.gov.

I think most of us want to see inefficiency and redundancy monitored, evaluated and eliminated from the U.S. budget. I think most of us know there are many things that have been written within legislatures that absolutely promotes waste –  the Alaskan “bridge to nowhere” comes to mind (the $398 million bridge project in Alaska that was defeated but was a symbol of “pork barrel” politics). But we also must realize that some of the programs that have inspired innovation and promoted safety to Americans actually do work and do need to be saved, along with those who work on those programs.

I talk to NOAA meteorologists at least once a week. They are always knowledgeable – not just about the weather for the next few days but the history of that weather, what is normal for our area and what climate change is doing to our world. 

The cuts that are being done at NOAA, and many other agencies, are worrisome. Last week, in the DOGE effort to cut budget costs 600 workers were fired at NOAA and the National Weather Service. Those let go include a scientist with a doctorate who issues tsunami alerts, a hurricane hunting flight director and a researcher studying which communities will get flooded when a storm strikes, according to an NBC news article written by Evan Bush. 

I love watching movies that show American ingenuity. Who didn’t come out of “Apollo 13” and just feel so darn proud to be American. These astronauts faced a crisis in space and they, along with brilliant engineers on the Earth, found a way to bring the astronauts home safely. We take for granted that this American ingenuity just happens, that it will be there when we need it. This includes being warned of a storm with possible flooding for those in the fire areas and extremely strong Santa Anas or snow along the grapevine. But all of that information took a ton of scientific research and development; it didn’t just happen – but it does require keeping the best and brightest in these agencies. 

Like I stated, we absolutely need to cut the waste and the fraudulent activity within every part of the government but I am really afraid that in this current effort we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. And I am very concerned that one day when I call NOAA no one will pick up the phone.

For our weather it is going to be pretty wet on and off. Today will see some light showers and we should dry out a little over the weekend; then another light rain arrives on Monday and Tuesday. NOAA is tracking another storm, which has the potential for heavy rain on Wednesday to Thursday. 

We will probably see snowfalls for this current storm down to 3,000 feet – all this information is according to NOAA.