▶ 0:04:42Commerce, justice and science. Our first hearing of 2026. I'd like to thank our subcommittee members and assistant secretary jordan for being here today and responding. I'd also like to thank full committee chairman tom cole for joining us at this hearing this morning.
▶ 0:05:06The completion of a fiscal year 2026 to fund the national weather service in fiscal year 2026, bills funding the majority of the government would not have been possible without the steady leadership of chairman cole. I'm grateful for his participation this morning in this hearing.
▶ 0:05:34In january, congress provided targeted investments to expand the workforce and capabilities of the national weather service.
▶ 0:05:49The service has a vital public policy mission, providing timely and accurate weather forecasts and warnings to local communities that protect life and property.
▶ 0:06:05Unfortunately, I know this is all too well, as my district in eastern kentucky has been ravaged by storms over the last number of years from historic floods in 2022 that took the lives of 45 people to an ef four tornado last summer that killed 19 people.
▶ 0:06:32To make matters worse, I had to ask if the local weather office was fully staffed and whether proper warnings were being issued and reaching my constituents. Mr. jordan, that's unacceptable.
▶ 0:06:54In fiscal year 26, congress provided the national weather service with over $1.45 billion to fulfill its mission, ensuring local weather forecast offices are staffed for operations and leveraging technology in the private sector to cover data
▶ 0:07:25Gaps and improve weather forecasts. The current administration seems to be making progress, working to streamline back end functions to improve performance and increase the number of staff in local weather forecast offices across the country. This is important and we'll continue to monitor this very carefully.
▶ 0:07:58The enacted fiscal year 26 bill also provided an additional $10 million to support full staffing and all weather forecast offices. I'm already seeing the benefits of this and my rural region.
▶ 0:08:15The service recently hired two more meteorologists at the jackson, kentucky office, which serves my district. During today's hearing, I look forward to learning more about how you're using these resources to focus on staffing local offices.
▶ 0:08:43I also urge the department of commerce to send the committee their spend plans for fiscal year 2026, so we can better understand how national weather service and commerce are using the resources the congress provided.
▶ 0:09:05In times of impending weather disasters, the value of clear and accurate information coming from the service cannot be understated and could be the difference between life and death. For many americans.
▶ 0:09:26Today's discussion is critically important, and I look forward to a full discussion on how the national weather service can better inform our citizens. With that statement, Mr. jordan, I would like to recognize the ranking member of our subcommittee. Miss meghan. >> thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:09:52And I too, want to welcome our witness, assistant secretary taylor jordan, for his first appearance before our subcommittee. We all recognize the vital work performed by noaa and the national weather service. But recognition is not enough. It is crucial that we maintain and improve the nation's ability to forecast weather quickly and accurately, and to communicate forecasts effectively.
▶ 0:10:20As climate change continues to impact our nation and planet, severe weather outbreaks are becoming increasingly frequent. That's why it was extremely concerning to see the weather service lose roughly 600 employees, including many meteorologists, in the early months of the trump administration last year. Specifically as a result of the firings and early retirements engineered by elon musk and his doge team.
▶ 0:10:48This was confirmed after secretary lutnick falsely told this subcommittee last year that no meteorologists were amongst the hundreds of employees fired. Local weather forecast offices were greatly stressed and understaffed across the country. Numerous offices were forced to limit weather balloon launches due to limited staffing.
▶ 0:11:12These are devices that that measure temperature, pressure and relative humidity at high altitudes. At one point last year, 45% of local weather forecast offices had vacancy rates of 20% or more. The threshold for critical understaffing, while eight offices were missing more than 35% of their staff.
▶ 0:11:3716 offices were missing their warning coordination. Meteorologist. The person responsible for making sure emergency managers and the public know what to do when emergency and disaster strikes. Extreme weather impacts us all. It was only a few years ago that hurricane ida killed several of my constituents in queens, and dozens more in the region.
▶ 0:12:04My heart breaks when I see how deadly the floods in texas were, or the recent tornadoes in the midwest and adequately staffed national weather service is essential. It is a matter of life and death for countless communities impacted by extreme weather events. The bottom line is that a hollowed out national weather service is a risk we simply cannot afford.
▶ 0:12:29Despite the difficulties caused by the staffing shortages, the trump administration refused to allow for the backfilling of critical frontline national weather service meteorologists and other staff until last august, when the administration finally recognized the problem it had created and allowed the weather service to begin backfilling some vacant positions at local weather forecast offices.
▶ 0:12:57Further compounding these problems, the trump administration has required that every contract decision greater than $100,000 must first go to the office of secretary lutnick for his approval. This has caused bottlenecks and delayed critical missions impacting the national weather service. For example, a backbone information technology system used by the weather service came within hours of shutting down a local weather forecast.
▶ 0:13:25Office in kentucky utilized portable toilets in its parking lot during a major storm, due to an inability to get permission to hire a plumber. And these are just two examples. Even under these circumstances, the men and women of the national weather service have continued to show dedication to their jobs and have worked hard to bring reliable weather forecasts to the american people.
▶ 0:13:52Assistant secretary, in your submitted statement, you mentioned the recent efforts by noaa and by national weather service director ken graham to streamline the management structure of the weather service. And there is nothing wrong with seeking efficiencies. And there are several good things in this recent plan.
▶ 0:14:12At the same time, I need to emphasize that the trump administration's purposeful, massive staffing losses at the weather service last year, including the widespread firings of probationary employees, must never happen again. That and other bad policies, such as the unreasonable bureaucratic delays on contracts, are not good at all for the national weather service.
▶ 0:14:37They greatly risk the weather service's mission and risk further losses of talented meteorologists and other critical frontline personnel. Given the relationship between our changing climate and the frequency of severe weather. I also want to note the critical role that noaa has played for decades in preserving and collecting data about the planet's changing climate.
▶ 0:15:01At the same time, however, the trump administration has pulled the us out of the paris climate agreement. It has removed and in some cases, rewritten, climate change related information from federal agency websites.
▶ 0:15:16Last year, the trump administration disbanded the author team and dismissed hundreds of scientists working on the sixth national climate assessment, a legally mandated, mandated report that is used to help shape environmental rules, legislation and infrastructure projects. The administration is currently pushing to eliminate the endangerment finding, which since 2009 has underpinned the federal government's ability to fight climate change.
▶ 0:15:44All of this is wrong and harmful for our country. The connection between climate change and the frequency of severe weather is very real. Finally, I want to express my disappointment that the commerce department has not yet issued its fiscal year 2026 spend plan, which was legally due to our appropriations committee on march 9th. This delay is unacceptable. All that said, I look forward to the discussions of these issues at today's hearings.
▶ 0:16:14Thank you very much. >> thank you, miss ming. I'm honored now to recognize the chairman of the full committee, Mr. cole. Thank you very much, Mr. chairman, and thank you and ranking member ming for having me today. Welcome, assistant secretary jordan, and thank you for being here today to discuss the importance of the national weather service.
▶ 0:16:38It's not an overstatement to say that the work of the national weather service impacts the daily lives of all americans. Because of this, the office must be well resourced and singularly focused on ensuring its forecast and extreme weather warnings are accurate and available to our constituents when they need them most. Oklahoma has already set a new seasonal record for most tornadoes just three months into the new year, with 20 recorded just in the month of march alone.
▶ 0:17:06It's not if, but when for these communities every year during storm season. That's why I'm proud to be working with chairman rogers and ranking member ming to have secured targeted funding increases for fy 26 for the national weather service to better enable weather forecast offices throughout the country to jump into action when severe storms strikes.
▶ 0:17:31The vital work of the local weather forecast offices should not be or would not be possible without the critical research and infrastructure that underpinned the forecasters understanding and capacity to respond to extreme weather events. From the world class research happening at noaa's cooperative institute for severe and high impact weather research and operations at the university of oklahoma, to the national severe storms laboratory and the storm prediction center.
▶ 0:18:01The national weather center in norman, oklahoma, is a crown jewel in our nation's weather enterprise. The expertise that exists in norman is unparalleled. I look forward to hearing what more can be done to leverage and support this resource.
▶ 0:18:15Utilizing the advancements local partners have made in enhanced forecasting capabilities, the national weather service's ability to do so will improve the lead time and accuracy of severe weather forecasts and warnings, ultimately saving lives and reducing damage to families, homes, towns and cities. I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue to provide the national weather service with the necessary support to fulfill its critical safety mission. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 0:18:45Chairman. I yield back my time. >> thank you, Mr. cole. I would now like to recognize our witness, assistant secretary jordan, for an opening statement. Without objection, your written statement, Mr. jordan, will be entered into the record. Uh, I would also ask that you try to keep your statement, uh, within five minutes so we can have additional time for questions.
▶ 0:19:17So, uh, the gentleman is recognized. Thank you. >> I'd like to.
▶ 0:19:57Offer sincere thanks. For our agency. >> will the gentleman, uh, cease for a moment while we try to fix the microphone?
▶ 0:24:54What? We have to. We have to maybe deduct some of your money for our microphone.
▶ 0:25:25>> you. >> test. Test? >> wow. >> Mr. jordan, you may proceed.
▶ 0:25:59>> on behalf. On behalf on behalf of the agency and administrator jacobs. I offer our most sincere thanks for the subcommittee's long standing support for our agency and its programs. In particular, I offer appreciation for the recently passed fy 26 appropriations. This funding enables noaa to support the advancement of our life saving public safety, mission, support the economy, and the national security of the country.
▶ 0:26:24My focus today is the national weather service, where the trump administration is working to streamline functions and leverage technology to provide the best possible information to the public and decision makers. Today, I will highlight a few of the agency's accomplishments and continued efforts to keep americans out of harm's way. First, the weather service is modernizing our our weather alert systems, including noaa weather radio, avoiding approximately $12 million per year in maintenance cost increases.
▶ 0:26:52We have also expanded our flood inundation mapping technology across the united states, saving countless lives during severe weather events. We have also embraced artificial intelligence. We recently announced the launch of a new suite of operational, ai driven global weather prediction models. These new models are faster, more efficient, and use a fraction of the computational resources compared to legacy models. Noaa is the first organization in the world to launch this hybrid grand ensemble model in 2026.
▶ 0:27:24We are continuing to make meaningful progress towards leading the world in numerical weather prediction. We were excited to announce that we are moving the advanced weather interactive processing system known as awips, to the cloud, a critical tool for our weather forecasters. These investments will give forecasters efficient, secure and remote access to provide support wherever and whenever severe weather threatens. A new, nimble, flexible mobile weather service needs its operations to match.
▶ 0:27:57We are also updating the core physics in our next generation modeling architecture, a new dynamical core to noaa's weather model, supported by the broader weather enterprise, provides the path toward substantial weather forecast improvement into this model. We will continue to feed data from the many observing networks and systems we operate. We are also leveraging new partnerships through our commercial data program, which includes the national mesonet program and the aircraft based observation program.
▶ 0:28:25We will also design and deploy the next generation of weather surveillance radar technology, our radar next program. This next generation of radars will ensure continuity of operations, expand coverage, and improve performance. It will enable forecasters to improve lead times and accuracy of warnings for high impact weather events. This work will improve our data and enable high resolution modeling across the globe, both of which are critical to our efforts to advance us numerical weather prediction.
▶ 0:28:55With these new technologies and the infrastructure, noaa is poised to transform into the weather service of the future. Nimble to quickly shift operations to support its partners how and when they need it.
▶ 0:29:09Flexible to provide data and services, how and where users need them, and mobile to enable forecasters to access data and products from anywhere and co-locate with emergency officials working side by side with emergency managers and providing support every day will lead to quicker and more accurate decisions when severe weather threatens. The weather service is also taking steps to implement a reorganization in order to better support the needs of our nation.
▶ 0:29:38This work incorporates long standing recommendations from the government accountability office, the national academies congress, internal reviews and feedback from the workforce calling for modernization, improved service delivery, and more efficient operations. The reorganization will streamline operations, reduce bureaucracy, and enhance efficiency.
▶ 0:30:01Our goal is to speed up decision making and execution while strengthening our collaboration with the robust weather and water enterprise. Thank you again for your continued support and partnership as we work to improve our ability to protect americans through accurate and timely weather forecasting, the national weather service will continue to serve the public with critical watches and warnings, and quickly adapt to ensure that we are at our best when impactful weather threatens the nation. Thank you.
▶ 0:30:33>> thank you, secretary johnson. Jordan. We will now proceed under the five minute rule, uh, for questions. I'll begin by recognizing myself. For the five minute spread.
▶ 0:31:08The national weather service provides life saving information that local communities rely on. How is the weather service focusing on the core public safety mission? >> thank you for the question. So the weather service is focusing on its core weather mission through through a few different areas.
▶ 0:31:33First, we're trying to improve our model that underpins our forecasts the global forecast system, the gfs. We are working to improve the accuracy and timeliness of that model through data assimilation and new observations. Turning to observations, we're ensuring that we have the correct recipe for an accurate weather forecast by using different observing systems like weather balloons, aircraft data satellites, aircraft recon that feed into a weather model.
▶ 0:32:03And then lastly, we're. >> if you could place your microphone closer to your voice. >> it's just a little bit better. It's very close. >> even more. >> oh. >> just just to recap. Oh, there we go. >> that's better. >> just to recap, we're focusing on improving our model, our weather forecast model. We're focused on improving the observations that go into the weather model.
▶ 0:32:31And we're focused on adequately staffing the weather forecast office to communicate those watches and warnings to the public to keep the public safe. >> thank you. As I mentioned earlier, my district has been ravaged by floods and tornadoes over the last number of years.
▶ 0:32:57What steps are being taken to ensure local weather forecast offices like the one in jackson, kentucky, have the staffing and resources that they need to issue timely, accurate warnings. >> thank you for the question.
▶ 0:33:18So the weather service is actively hiring, and we have been approved to hire several hundred new forecasters, and we have already onboarded several hundred new forecasters. We are also giving those forecasters new tools through our new awips to the cloud initiative, which will bring the foundational technology that forecasters use every day to create those weather forecasts into the cloud, and that allows them to work with others, work with nearby weather forecast offices,
▶ 0:33:50And to also embed directly with state and local emergency managers. >> thank you. What can congress do to support the weather service? Uh, and to ensure that our constituents back home in kentucky and across the nation are receiving the information they need in times of weather uncertainty.
▶ 0:34:21>> thank you for the question. Your continued support and partnership means the world to us as we look to recapitalize observing networks including weather balloons, aircraft data, satellite data, to ensure that we have the correct observations in place to feed into our numerical weather prediction systems, and then also our focus, our laser focus on improving the weather model so that we can once again lead the world in numerical weather prediction.
▶ 0:34:46And then lastly, ensuring that we have adequately staffed weather forecast offices to continue to communicate those forecasts to the local decision makers for the public to then take action on that data. We really appreciate your your support and partnership and carrying out those missions.
▶ 0:35:04>> given the persistent challenges rural communities like mine in kentucky face in receiving timely and accurate warnings, I'd like to focus on the gaps that still exist across the country in radar.
▶ 0:35:25How is the weather service addressing those gaps in radar and observational coverage, particularly in central appalachia and other rural regions? >> thank you for the question. Noah, is is working to better understand our our next radar architecture.
▶ 0:35:49We currently have the nexrad system in place that has radars across the country, and we know that in the next decade or so, those those radars will reach the end of their life and will need to recapitalize those systems. The architecture of the future will have an expanded network and coverage through partnership with the commercial sector, of which now there are multiple commercial companies that provide radar as a service.
▶ 0:36:15So we're looking to expand coverage between our larger government based radars to allow for greater coverage of weather events for watches and warnings. >> thank you, miss ming. >> thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:36:34Um, as we've discussed already, last year, roughly 600 employees of the national weather service were lost to the probationary firings and early retirements spearheaded by elon musk. I'm glad to hear that some of these positions are being filled, and the recognition of the need for adequate staffing.
▶ 0:36:55And looking back on the past year, assistant secretary, do you believe it was a mistake for the national weather service to have been forced to lose these, uh, front line critical employees, including our meteorologists? >> thank you for the question.
▶ 0:37:14So the administration is focused on public safety, and we're focused on looking forward to staff all of the weather forecast offices to continue 24 by seven operations and ensure that the public can get the watches and warnings that they need to, to stay safe.
▶ 0:37:31>> and would you commit that going forward, the meteorologists and other frontline mission critical personnel at our local weather forest offices will not be arbitrarily fired, as happened last year. >> thank you for the question. As the administration is focused on public safety, we will continue to make sure that we are adequately staffed and every weather forecast office so that the public has the information they need for severe weather.
▶ 0:38:02>> um, I appreciate that. But as you've heard, even from our chairman, uh, inadequate staffing, especially at our local weather forecast offices and the uncertainty affected and could have had a very negative effect on public safety, including the loss of lives. And we just want to hear. I think I can speak for many of us, that we won't see a repeat of the arbitrary firings that we had seen in 2025.
▶ 0:38:36>> I appreciate the question, and as evident with our commitment to adequately staffing, we are we are approved to hire over 400 already knew weather forecast office forecasters across the country. We have already sent final job offers to over 200 of them, and we have almost 200 already on board. >> so that's good to hear.
▶ 0:38:58And I wanted to jump back to you mentioned the awips, uh, transferring to the cloud. When will that be ready? Uh, what is the timeline on that? >> that's a great question. So I believe, uh, the work will continue over the next 12 to 18 months, uh, for the, for the, a whip system, uh, to the cloud.
▶ 0:39:22In the meantime, we will continue to operate the system as is as we work to have a parallel path and then transition over to the new system. >> and then I wanted to find out and I don't you can provide us with the list later, maybe of the local weather forecast offices that currently have more than 20% vacancy. Uh, and the ones that have no overnight staffing. >> I'm happy to take that for the record and provide that information to you.
▶ 0:39:50But I can tell you right now that all weather forecast offices across the country are operating 24 over seven. >> thank you. Um, I wanted to jump back to the contracting delay issue. Uh, as we've heard, it's been widely reported that contracts in excess of 100,000 at commerce, uh, have had to directly go to secretary lutnick for approval. Uh, we are very concerned that it's resulted in significant critical delays.
▶ 0:40:17Uh, the weather service came within hours of losing access to cornerstone information technology system, known as the as the washington post reported that some of the scrutiny of contracts has included stopping basic facility repairs. As I mentioned in my opening, uh, going forward, what, if anything, is being done to help prevent such unacceptable delays in routine national weather service contracting? >> thank you for the question.
▶ 0:40:47So we are actively working with the department to ensure that the contracts are able to get out on time when needed. Um, I believe we are, um, in good shape. I don't think we have a backlog of contracting at this moment. So we continue to push those contracts to work with the department and ensure that we get those out in a timely manner. >> uh, and I hope going forward, uh, if there are lapses or cancellations of any monetarily or operational significant contracts that you will alert our subcommittee. >> yes, ma'am.
▶ 0:41:17>> thank you. I yield back. >> thank the gentlelady. Recognize now the full committee chairman. >> thank you very much, Mr. chairman. Again, Mr. jordan, great to have you here. I understand you're going to be out in oklahoma in the not too distant future. So. Yes, sir. I look forward to visiting with you when you come. Um, as you know, we've got the national weather center, uh, in my district.
▶ 0:41:39And, uh, there we do an exceptional job of integrating local research and industry partners, frankly, with the, with our, uh, with the federal agency itself. And I've seen firsthand what an enormous difference that make. Can you tell us a little bit about what you're doing in other parts of the country to have those same kind of connections between private entities and particularly, uh, you know, uh, communications facilities that inform the public and, and the center.
▶ 0:42:08So information gets out quickly to people that need it. >> yep. >> thank you for the question, sir. Um, so just to quickly head on, uh, the work being done in your district, especially at the national severe storms lab, they, um, they have done tremendous work on severe weather and severe weather research. And they actually, uh, one of the greatest success stories out of there has been the warn on forecast product that was operationalized last year.
▶ 0:42:32We've used that now to help extend the lead times for tornadoes to keep your constituents and others safe across the country. So it's a real success story. Um, across the country, we have other different, other programs that help us improve our, our r2o as we call it, our research to operations as an operational science agency, we look, we want to make sure that the, the scarce taxpayer funds that we are we are working with have an operational outcome to improve our mission for weather
▶ 0:43:03Forecast improvement. So we work directly with academia, we work with the commercial sector. And the commercial sector is is in some in some instances outpacing, uh, the government as far as the different types of data that they're able to provide as, as chairman rogers said, there are now commercial radar companies who are able to provide new sources of data to improve our weather model.
▶ 0:43:24We're actively working with stat commercial satellite companies to provide new sources of data that sometimes augment, supplement, or even replace existing government systems. Um, so the future is bright for weather forecasting, and we're doing everything we can to leverage our partnerships with academia and the private sector. >> terrific.
▶ 0:43:43Uh, through partnerships with the national weather service, the university of oklahoma's advanced radar research center provides scientific expertise, engineering, innovation, development, and testing to know our to know us radar next program that will help shape the future of the system.
▶ 0:44:00Can you briefly describe some of the challenges facing the current nexrad weather radar system, including, as you've mentioned before, and I think my colleagues have as well gaps in surveillance coverage. What are the efforts underway to try and close those things? >> absolutely. So we are doing an analysis of alternatives to look like, to look at what the future of that architecture and that network network looks like. Uh, the existing network called our nexrad system is quite old.
▶ 0:44:32It's decades old at this time. And we have done service life extensions on them, uh, over the last decade or so. But at a certain point, they will reach the end of their life. So we are actively working internally on what the future program looks like. And the landscape is different than when we originally did our current nexrad system. There are commercial companies who have smaller radars who can play in between our larger radars to cover those gaps that currently we do not. We have not done in, in, in, in the current times.
▶ 0:45:02Um, we look forward to working on that analysis and then bringing that to congress in the future. >> uh. >> and can you provide a timeline when you would expect to be able to do something like that? >> that's a great question. So we expect the, uh, the current, uh, nexrad system in place to reach its end of its life in the next decade or so. So we will need to begin in the coming years to plan for the continuity of that, those, those critical data sources.
▶ 0:45:32>> and can you give us some sort of, uh, estimate? And I would not hold you to this. I mean, that's a pretty expensive process, uh, to move, but what are we looking at in terms of what it would take to recapitalize and modernize the system? >> that's a really tough question. Um. >> so I meant to be. >> I do know that the, the existing system that we put in place a few decades ago was on the order of billions of dollars. So we would expect something similar this time.
▶ 0:46:01>> well, again, thank you for thinking ahead. Thank you for your testimony. I look forward to seeing you when you visit oklahoma. Thank you very much. Yield back. Mr. chairman. >> thank you. Chairman. Um, Mr. iv. >> thank you, Mr. chairman. Thank you, Mr. secretary, for coming in. Um, I want to echo the same concerns that have been raised on a rare bipartisan basis here on the hill about staffing.
▶ 0:46:28I you know, I've got two noaa installations in my district, just prince george, prince george's county, eastern border of dc and noah headquarters is right around the corner in silver spring. And, um, when the the doge layoffs first started happening, I actually went out to a rally that they were having there to protest it and had a chance to talk to a lot of the employees who were being forced out of the, uh, out of their positions.
▶ 0:46:55And they were, um, crushed, frankly, uh, you know, a lot of them had put decades of their careers towards service to the, to the american people in this capacity. Many of them, this was their dream position. Um, and I think, I don't know, 550, 600 people were, were pushed out in that time frame. And I guess that's, I'll call it the doge era. Uh, and I understand now I had to step out. We've got another appropriations subcommittee hearing across the hallway, so I'm bouncing back and forth.
▶ 0:47:24But apparently you talked about bringing people back, some kind of rehiring plan. If you could give me the quick synopsis of that, I'd appreciate it. >> absolutely. Um, so we have approval through opm to hire, uh, several hundred, I think it's over 400 new forecasters. We have already given final offers to over 200 of them. And of that 200, 190 have already been onboarded.
▶ 0:47:49So we're making tremendous progress to to staff up to adequately staff all of the weather forecast offices, including some of the installations in your district, have received some new staff. >> now, let me ask just a follow up on that. My my understanding and correct me if I'm wrong, but people who had been laid off, would they be first in line for being rehired for positions that they were removed from? >> that's a great question. I actually will need to get back to you on that. I'm not entirely sure of the process. >> okay.
▶ 0:48:17Well, that'd be important to, you know, obviously the people who had been working there and I would think from the standpoint of bringing people back who have the experience and institutional knowledge, and you'll have the internal reports on whether they were doing a good job or not. But if they were doing good work and they had the experience and the institutional knowledge, I would hope that they'd be first in line to to be brought back to their positions. Uh, another quick point, and this is I'll carry it over from the hearing across the hallway, because that was the director of opm.
▶ 0:48:48And the point that I tried to make to him was because he was talking about bringing in young people, talented people, um, people who want to serve their country and the like. Um, and it's an important career move for them. He's talking about a two year to four year, I'll call it a rotation. That's what we call it, a department of justice. The challenge there though, is they were paying attention to the doj's cuts.
▶ 0:49:13They saw how people were removed and how they were, um, accused of poor performance even when they weren't. I know some of the probationary people, the federal courts ordered the administration to issue letters to them, saying that they were not fired for poor performance, actually, so that in their next careers, when they're applying for future jobs, they can show that to whoever they're interviewing with and not be tainted unfairly with with the poor performance label.
▶ 0:49:40Uh, how are you going to get around those kinds of issues with respect to attracting the best and the brightest to the positions, having seen how the federal government's treated people as of late? >> so I appreciate the question.
▶ 0:49:58So working with my boss, administrator jacobs, and and the secretary, making sure that, uh, morale is an important factor in all of this and ensuring that we go and we visit different weather forecast offices in different installations to hear from the people and to discuss with them the weather forecasting and the, and the, the employees, the dedicated employees at the weather service and noaa take pride in their mission. And we understand that.
▶ 0:50:23So ensuring that they hear from us that we are also respectful of of their, their mission and their dedication to work is important. >> well, I appreciate that. And I want to echo the chairman's comments in his opening statement, that the work that, um, your agency does could mean the difference between life and death and in fact does on a daily basis. I'd welcome you to come out. You might have been out to some of the installations in my district already. If if you haven't, though, I'd love to to to have you come out.
▶ 0:50:53And if you have, I'd love to come and go with you so we can go through it together. I think they do great work. There's a lot of talented people there that are really making a difference for the american people. And as the ranking member mentioned, you know, we've got people disagree about whether there's climate change. Sure looks like it to me. But, you know, that's a separate debate. But, um, we need that kind of, uh, talent now more than ever. And I noticed in your testimony, you were talking about phasing in ai. We're really going to need new talent.
▶ 0:51:21Who understands how the meteorology piece works and also how the ai piece can be integrated into that. And I, chairman, I thank you and I yield back. >> Mr. gonzalez. >> uh, thank you, chairman, and thank you, secretary jordan, for being here. My first question is on research in san antonio.
▶ 0:51:39In san antonio, we're home to top tier research centers like southwest research institute and the university of texas at san antonio, utsa that rely on federal partners partnerships with noaa to conduct cutting edge scientific research critical to our national security and economic security. Can you speak to the importance of noaa's partnerships with universities and research institutions, and whether there are any plans in fiscal year 27 to either reduce or expand funding in these efforts? >> thank you for the question.
▶ 0:52:10So noaa's partnerships, external partnerships with both academia and the private sector are extremely important for the work that they provide to help us improve our mission, specifically to siri. I know that they're working with us on in our satellite office, nesdis, to improve operations there. And, um, our satellites are extremely important because they provide over 90% of the data for our weather models. Not a lot of folks know that, but, you know, we ingest a lot of different types of data from ground based sensors, aircraft satellites.
▶ 0:52:3990% of the data that goes into our weather model comes from satellites. So working with external partners like swiggy is extremely important to us. Um, as it comes to fy 27, I know we're still working that process and I don't want to get ahead of it, but look forward to that coming out soon and working with your staff. >> great. Thank you. I would say the funding is really critical when we talk about private industry kind of growing or expanding, getting ahead of government, if you will, shouldn't surprise anyone.
▶ 0:53:05But one of the ways to keep us at par is to make sure we're leaning into our universities and we're leaning into these, these, uh, these, uh, places like soiree that just do one of a kind work. So, uh, I would, I would recommend more funding in that area, not less if we're going to stay ahead of some of these issues.
▶ 0:53:22Uh, my next question is turning to, um, the tragic, uh, the tragic, uh, flooding of texas last year, in july of 2025, the texas hill country was hit by devastating floods that claimed 135 lives, including children at camp at camp mystic. Uh, catastrophic flood events are not a one time event. They can happen again and often do. What steps are?
▶ 0:53:45What steps has the national weather service taken since the hill country floods to improve the, uh, the timeliness of flash flood watches and warnings? >> thank you for the question. And in addition to the hiring that we talked about to ensure that weather forecast offices are adequately staffed, um, as I said in my, uh, my opening statement, we're also rolling out new products for flood inundation mapping to ensure that the communities and the public has access to the latest up to date information for the threat of flooding specifically.
▶ 0:54:16>> okay. >> thank you. >> uh, my next question. My constituents in west texas are under constant threat from wildfires. Many of the cities and towns around the region rely heavily on volunteer fire departments due to limited staffing and resources, which makes coordination with federal agencies all the more critical to protecting lives and poverty, specifically in rural communities throughout texas. In 2024, the smokehouse creek fire, the largest wildfire in texas history, burned over 1 million acres and killed over 15,000 cattle.
▶ 0:54:44We cannot afford it to see a disaster of this magnitude again. What is the national weather service doing to strengthen coordination with local leaders, public safety officials and firefighters in rural communities? >> it's a great question. So we, uh, in addition to the staffing of the weather forecast offices, we need to embed and with the emergency operation centers in the state and local media decision makers on how to communicate our weather forecasts to the public.
▶ 0:55:09I know doctor jacobs has said your forecast is only as good as the last mile, and that's the last mile. Is that communication to the actual decision makers who can tell the public, hey, get out of harm's way. So that's extremely important. We also need to work on on improving our fire weather forecasting. That will be very important for events such as that you mentioned. And, um, and really just ensuring that we, we stay up to date on, on fire science. >> uh, thank you, secretary jordan.
▶ 0:55:38I look forward to working together and chairman, I yield back. >> gentleman yields. Mr. morelli. >> thank you, Mr. chairman, and thank you for being here. You know, mark twain famously said everyone talks about the weather, but no one does much about it. So I'm, I'm really excited to be here in congress talking about the weather and what we can do about it. And I'm grateful for all my colleagues on both sides who have talked about, uh, the challenges of staffing and how important this is to our various regions.
▶ 0:56:08I do also, and this is just my observation, which you don't need to respond to, but hearing, uh, folks talk about now hiring hundreds of people, uh, back and talking about the cuts that were made last year, it feels like that exercise was a little bit like ready fire aim, uh, and, uh, replacing people that are critical to the mission. Now, I think in retrospect is something we should have been far more thoughtful about.
▶ 0:56:35Um, so I am, I am grateful for trying to hire people back. And I also am sensitive to the fact that, um, as my colleagues have mentioned, that it will be hard to keep morale up if they feel, if member, if people feel when they come into government service. And I appreciate Mr. ivey's comments, uh, that that what that does to morale and the long term, um, prospects for keeping people and attracting people. And I appreciate your comments about how important they were.
▶ 0:57:03I do want to, as my other colleagues have done, uh, just mentioned, and you can get back to me afterward, but, um, in my own district, um, we're very concerned about upstate new york. There is a, the national weather service forecast office in buffalo. I'd love to have, uh, unless you have the data, which I wouldn't expect you to, uh, to hear about how that's going in terms of staffing, uh, both currently and prospects for it.
▶ 0:57:28And if you could comment on the great lakes environmental research lab has been impacted, uh, that, um, uh, has an impact on all of the states that have, uh, the great lakes all through that area. And they support observing and forecasting work. Um, it's at its lowest staffing level, I believe, since its creation in 1974. So if you have any information on that and how you're going to support that office, I'd appreciate hearing from you about that. >> thank you for the question.
▶ 0:57:59So, um, for, for specifically, I know that they are they provide important work for observing and forecasting, like you said. And, and to hone in on that really quickly is, you know, the great lakes and the oceans and the atmosphere coupling all of that data together will actually help improve our weather forecasts. So we understand how important that is. I don't have specifics in front of me on the staffing levels of laurel lee, but I'd be happy to work with your staff on that. >> but I would very much appreciate that. I was also thinking, and Mr.
▶ 0:58:27Ivey mentioned this in his closing, you know, I think about math, physics, gravity, the natural sciences really don't care whether we believe in them or not. If I jump in the air, whether I believe in gravity or not, it's going to bring me back to earth. So notwithstanding the fact that the president calls, uh, climate change is a hoax, I'm not sure if you had a chance to see. But the world meteorologists.
▶ 0:58:54Meteorological, meteorological. Sorry, that's my third. Third time was the charm, I think organization state of climate report which was just released um indicates and I guess they've done some new measurements that relate to, uh, the absorption into the atmosphere of the sun's energy versus its reflection. And what I understand is in equilibrium, about half of the energy gets absorbed into the atmosphere, about half gets reflected off by the atmosphere.
▶ 0:59:21Uh, new studies indicate that the amount of energy being absorbed into the atmosphere is far greater than it ought to be, uh, under ideal circumstances. And that much of that energy is now being, uh, essentially transferred into the ocean. So they do some estimate of how much the energy gets trapped by the oceans, how much is on land, how much is in the atmosphere. And what seems to be clear is the oceans are getting warmer. And you can measure that by temperature as well as by this recent study of absorption.
▶ 0:59:51All of this to say, these have dramatic impacts on climate and weather systems. Uh, and now you're seeing hundred year storms with far greater regularity than 100 years and others have talked about, um, the, um, both the frequency and the ferocity, if that's the right word of weather systems.
▶ 1:00:15And so could you give me a sense of how in all this new modeling and all this new scientific innovation, how people are measuring the changes and whether or not sort of this belief or disbelief in climate affects those models. Because it seems to me this is really important question. >> so that's a great question. Thank you for that. So I haven't seen the study, but I look forward to reading it. And just real quickly on the wmo that you mentioned, the world meteorological organization, they're an. >> important a much better job of pronouncing it than I did.
▶ 1:00:45So thank you for that. I've had you should. >> I've had a little practice. >> yeah. >> uh, they're an important partner to noaa and they actually provide a lot of international partner data through other countries to noaa that we utilize in our weather forecasting when it comes to weather subsidies and all seasonal climate, all aspects of weather at any duration, it's important to continue to to obtain those measurements. And we aim to do so through our vast and different observing networks. >> thank you, Mr. chairman. I appreciate you. >> Mr. clyde. >> thank you, chairman rogers.
▶ 1:01:16Um, and thank you, assistant secretary jordan, for being here to testify today. As you know, the national weather service serves as the federal government's primary civilian agency for weather forecasting, providing critical real time information to help protect life and property. In my home state of georgia, the national weather service provides an essential role in keeping communities informed during severe weather events.
▶ 1:01:40This includes frequent tornado activity across georgia as well as more recent winter storms in northeast georgia, such as winter storm fern, uh that brought dangerous ice and snow to our mountain communities, causing significant disaster level damage. And in a somewhat confined area. In fiscal year 2026, president trump delivered congress a budget with a mission to reduce the size, scope, and cost of the federal government.
▶ 1:02:07President trump's budget would restore fiscal sanity to washington by reining in federal spending and reducing non-defense discretionary spending by about 23%. $163 billion reduction from fy 25 levels. As a member of both the house budget and appropriations committees, I strongly supported this initial effort and remain committed to restoring fiscal sanity, ensuring that future generations are not even more burdened by washington's reckless spending.
▶ 1:02:32However, despite my democrat colleagues claims that the trump administration was gutting the national weather service and responsible for weather related deaths last year, president trump's budget actually called for a more than $70 million increase to the national weather service operating budget in fiscal year 26.
▶ 1:02:48In fact, president trump signed into law the fy 2026 commerce, justice, science and related agencies appropriations bill earlier this year, which funded the national weather service at over 100 million above the fy 25 enacted levels. If I got those numbers right.
▶ 1:03:06Um, so assistant secretary jordan, can you set the record straight on how the administration has actually funded and supported the national weather service and explained what these investments mean for the accuracy, reliability and staffing of local weather offices, despite claims to the contrary. Um, by the other side of the aisle. >> thank you for the question.
▶ 1:03:28Um, so this administration is focused on public safety and aligning our taxpayer dollars, uh, from research to operations as, as, as a science and operational science agency, noaa intends to, to, to use and conduct research that has an operational outcome to improve our mission, which is to protect life and property and to safeguard the national economy through that.
▶ 1:03:50And drilling down a little bit that involves that involves adequately staffing our weather forecast offices to ensure that we have people butts in seats to to create those weather forecasts and communicate them to your constituents. We also are working on recapitalizing and making sure we have the observation networks that feed into the weather model itself. Think of that as the recipe for a cookbook, right? You need all the different ingredients to create an accurate and timely weather model.
▶ 1:04:17We are trying to ensure that we have the observations we need in place through the various observing systems, whether that's through the oceans, through the atmosphere, or even in space that feed into that model. And another priority of the administration is to lead the world again in numerical weather prediction. We are currently, uh, noaa is currently number four in the world behind the europeans, the uk and canada for, for weather prediction. We would like to see some progress in, in leading the world again.
▶ 1:04:44So part of that is the model itself and making sure that we have the best scientists working on that model to, to look at what others are doing, uh, like, like the ecmwf, that's the european center's name and they're focused on data assimilation. And that's, you know, large, complex, computationally efficient algorithms that help create that weather model.
▶ 1:05:06So we're really focused on improving the weather model, making sure we have the observations, and then making sure we have the people to communicate that forecast to the public to keep constituents out of harm's way. >> well thank you. Uh, turning to radar coverage maps that's been mentioned a little bit here, uh, particularly in rural and mountainous areas in northeast georgia. My district, the national weather service, doppler radar network, leaves gaps in covered areas across rural parts of my district, largely due to terrain challenges and the distance from existing radar sites.
▶ 1:05:37These gaps can degrade situational awareness and make it more difficult to accurately detect and predict severe weather. At the same time, the private sector and state government entities have demonstrated a growing ability to help close those gaps. For example, in 2022, researchers at the university of georgia and the georgia institute of technology partnered to deploy a new radar system in gwinnett county. All right.
▶ 1:06:00Uh, to address the well documented coverage gap in northeast georgia, I believe it's called g a w x is the radar, um, in gwinnett county. You spoke a little bit about this earlier in your responses. So how is the national weather service incorporating private sector radar data and capabilities to address these persistent coverage gaps? And what more can be done to accelerate the integration? Um, as I understand g w x data is available to the national weather service. >> thank you for the question.
▶ 1:06:30So the landscape has changed from our our previous or current radar system that's in place. And yes, there are some, some coverage issues that exist. And since the landscape has changed and there are smaller commercial radars, we can view those as gap filling between our larger radars, which is really a game changer for us.
▶ 1:06:47And we intend, I believe we already have, working through our national mesonet program and the commercial data sources to acquire and ingest some of this new source of data for testing and piloting to make sure it checks out, and that we can integrate that directly into our operational weather forecasting. >> okay. >> so, gentlemen. >> thank you. And I yield back, Mr. chairman. >> um. Miss van irvin. I'm sorry, miss dean. >> thank you. Chairman.
▶ 1:07:17Uh, thank you, chairman rogers. Thank you. Ranking member meng. Uh, and thank you, assistant secretary jordan, for your testimony. Like some of my colleagues, I invite you to my area. Uh, I represent suburban philadelphia. Uh, and of course, that whole region has been struck, uh, over the last few years, uh, with extraordinary extreme weather, whether it was hurricanes, tornadoes, things I would not have thought we would have suffered with extreme heat, extreme flooding.
▶ 1:07:46We had two years in a row of 100 year flood. So I don't know how that works, how you can have 100 year flood and within a year have another 100 year flood. Uh, but what you do, uh, what our weather forecasters and noaa and you do, you save lives, you protect life, you protect property, you save lives. And it also builds into our economy.
▶ 1:08:08Uh, like many of my colleagues here, I want to look back, uh, and get what you can tell me about what happened as a result of literally, uh, the president was sworn in last year on the 20th of january. Uh, and, uh, dosage was in noah's offices february 4th. Uh, and some of our colleagues sent a letter to the acting administrator describing what happened on tuesday, february 4th. Doe's representatives blew through security.
▶ 1:08:37They walked in and they said, basically, take me to your it. This is basically like doing a major commute computer hack attack by doing it inside the agency because, you know, somebody gave you a badge. The next day, it was reported that a dodge employee, uh, I can't pronounce the name, had been given a noaa email address and had been granted, uh, editor access to the websites. What? And we sent that my colleague sent an urgent letter.
▶ 1:09:05Uh, as far as I know, uh, they have gotten no response. This letter was dated february 10th of last year. No response in more than a year. What data was collected, whether it was secure, whether it was personnel, whether any of it was classified, what data was collected by doge, either through the department you run or noaa and beyond? >> I appreciate the question. I don't have that information in front of me, but I'm happy to take that back.
▶ 1:09:35>> and you can get us the report on that. >> yes, ma'am. I'm happy to work with your staff. >> maybe they could answer the letter of more than a year ago. Might help, uh, in the doge firing. Remember what the name of doge is? Department of government efficiency. How many people got fired as a result of them coming in to the weather service? >> so I believe through the the drp and the vera, the visa process, I believe, uh, roughly a little over 500, close to 600 people took early retirement.
▶ 1:10:07>> government efficiency. And then what happened? We recognized we needed some of them back. Is that accurate? >> several months ago or in 2025, we were authorized to hire, uh, several. >> authorized because of need to rehire government efficiency. I call that chaos.
▶ 1:10:30And we all know regardless of industry or agency, that is costly, as some of my colleagues said, costly in morale. These are public servants. These aren't political hacks. These are public servants trying to keep us safe. The process of rehiring of those 500 you talked about, you have 200 offers out.
▶ 1:10:56>> 200 people have received, over 200 have received final offers, and 190 of those folks are already onboarded. >> what's the cost of that year long firing, researching, rehiring? What's the cost of that to the american taxpayer? >> I'm sorry, I don't have that figure in front of me. >> I wouldn't find it to be efficient. I would find it wasteful, fraudulent and abusive.
▶ 1:11:17That's what this administration oversaw as it hurt public employees, people who are just trying to keep us safe. Uh, in terms of hiring, troubling to me was, uh, some of the things that, um, we see in, in, uh, the applications, uh, and what people have to speak to as they are applying for some of these positions.
▶ 1:11:44For example, the application for a hydrologist opening asked applicants to identify 1 or 2 of president trump's executive orders that are, quote, significant to them and explain how they would help implement them at higher if hired. What does that have to do with the person's ability to be a hydrologist? >> I'm sorry that I'm not familiar with the opm guidelines on on what is in a hiring application. I was unaware.
▶ 1:12:14>> you have some role in hiring. >> yes, ma'am. >> could you take a look at the applications and and what is asked of applicants? And would you maybe assure us that you would remove such questioning that asks for a political requirement, a loyalty requirement, rather than exactly what this person brings in terms of the science? >> thank you. I'm happy to work with you and. >> your staff. >> the gentlelady has. >> I thank you.
▶ 1:12:45>> Mr. strong. >> uh, thank you, chairman rogers. >> ranking member. >> for holding this important hearing. Assistant secretary jordan, thank you for being here today. I want to start by thanking the dedicated team at the weather forecast office in my district in huntsville, alabama, for their hard work keeping our communities in north alabama and southern tennessee safe. Uh, for over two decades, these, uh, this forecast office is located at the university of alabama in huntsville on sparkman drive.
▶ 1:13:17They work, uh, long rotating shifts, nights, weekends, holidays under enormous pressure. In many cases, forecasters issue warnings about storms that directly impact their communities, their neighbors, and their own families. Uh, I spent decades as a first responder assistant fire chief, and I know the kind of toll that work can take on you. Uh, the huntsville weather forecast office is uniquely positioned, working closely with nasa.
▶ 1:13:46Uh, the university of alabama in huntsville, turning innovation into operational results in real time. They also utilize critical infrastructure in my district, such as the high top nexrad radar in jackson county, alabama. For many years, this radar has helped forecasters track storms and provide the data needed for timely warnings in multiple states at the foot of the cumberland plateau.
▶ 1:14:13Unfortunately, due to age and general wear and tear, the radar has at times gone offline for long periods, creating gaps in coverage when people need it most. Mr. jordan, your testimony states that the national weather service is working to replace the current nexrad system within the next ten years. Where exactly, uh, does the radar next program stand today? What phase are you in?
▶ 1:14:40What milestones have been completed, and what is the timeline for deployment in high risk areas with aging infrastructure like north alabama? >> thank you for the question, sir. So for the for the for for the radar next program. Sorry. Uh, we are working on analysis of alternatives internally to noaa because the landscape has changed. We are not working on just the exact same. A government built radar system. We have a robust.
▶ 1:15:05We are blessed with a robust weather and water enterprise in america with commercial companies that can play a role in how we meet our mission. So we are. We are looking at the architecture and running different analyzes on what is the correct mix of a government system versus a gap filler in between two different radars and look forward to, to working on that analysis and then briefing it over to congress, uh, as soon as we can. >> thank you.
▶ 1:15:33As the radar next program moves forward, can you ensure that the areas with critical regional coverage, like high top and offices with advanced research capabilities such as huntsville, are prioritized for early investment and deployment? >> thank you. Sarah, we were happy to work with you and your staff and congress to ensure that we have radars where we need them, when we need them. >> thank you. I know we're thankful for that radar because 20 years ago, they tried to tell us you could forecast it from nashville and birmingham.
▶ 1:16:03And I think everybody in this room knows what that led to. And several major disasters. We've seen cases where forecasts and warnings were technically accurate, but communities still suffered significant loss of life and property. Mr. jordan, where do you see the gap between forecast insurance and public response, and how is noaa working with state partners and local emergency managers to ensure forecast information leads to timely evacuation and protective actions on the ground? >> thank you for the question, sir.
▶ 1:16:32So our forecast, uh, our forecast is, is timely and accurate, but it, it, it means less if we cannot communicate it to the people who make decisions on the ground, the local decision makers, the local emergency managers. So we are taking, we are taking steps to embed our forecasters at emergency operation centers to ensure that there's a seamless transition from the information that we provide directly to the decision makers on the ground there, so we can avoid those disasters. >> thank you.
▶ 1:17:01As a 40 year firefighter, I can tell you what that means to first responders. In 37 years as an emergency medical technician, uh, Mr. jordan, noah's global forecast models lagging behind those of our international counterparts. At the same time, private sector forecasts are often outperforming government ones. Why is the united states falling behind in an area where we invest more than anyone else? >> that's a great question, and it would require more than the time on this to get into it.
▶ 1:17:31But, uh, if I could, if I could boil it down real quick, noah produces, uh, and works on over 200 different environmental models where other competitors like the european center focuses on one model. So our, our, our, our eyes are on a lot of different models. And we need to look at ways in which we can consolidate models in an appropriate way. >> thank you. North alabama depends on that radar at high top. Uh, southern tennessee depends on it. Uh, we got to replace it. Mr. chairman, I yield back. >> gentleman yields back. Mr.
▶ 1:18:03>> mervyn thank you. Chairman. Thank you. Ranking member. Uh, assistant secretary jordan, thank you for joining us today. Over the last two years, northwest indiana has experienced deadly weather events from tornadoes to supercell storms and the lake effect snow, uh, that have damaged the electric grid, damaged personal property and saw loss of life, life. The national weather service forecasting and notifications were vital to ensuring there wasn't any further loss of life with that, that energy companies were able to track storms and repair outages in a timely manner.
▶ 1:18:33While the national weather service cannot control the storms, it plays a vital role in helping people in the weather that affect them. Last april, the state of indiana experienced its worst single day tornado outbreak in the state history. Just a few weeks ago, indiana was hit again with several tornadoes that developed into due into a supercell thunderstorm, producing destructive winds and hail.
▶ 1:18:54These conditions are becoming more frequent and intense, leveling infrastructure and homes, damaging power lines causing widespread outages of power and most importantly, putting lives at risk. Can you describe the systems and operations in place to deliver timely notification of severe weather and events, and how congress can support your efforts to improve coordination between the national weather service and local entities to improve public safety during these severe weather events. >> thank you for the question.
▶ 1:19:23So for tornadoes and severe weather events, really the forecast starts with, uh, with math. It starts with our weather model and it starts with the observations that we feed into it. We need to ensure noaa that we recapitalize the systems, including our radar technologies, including our weather balloons and work with new partnerships because there are even commercial companies who can provide weather balloons, um, and ensure that we have the, the recipe, the ingredients that I mentioned before that go into a weather model, make sure that we have
▶ 1:19:53All of those satellites play a huge role in that. I mentioned that 90% of the data that goes into a weather model comes from satellites. Um, and then we need to focus on the model. The model is very important. And that is one of the tools that forecasters use. >> sorry if I can ask a follow up question very quickly. Romeoville is our local source, uh, with the doge cuts. Can you explain are they 24 hours, seven days a week? >> my understanding, sir, is that they are operating 24 hours, seven days a week. >> okay.
▶ 1:20:22And with romeoville, um, and that facility, just for my own personal knowledge, quickly and concisely, how ai and you talked about weather balloons or weather balloons being are are they commercialized? Are they privatized? Or what is the current status of that operation? >> that's a great question. So to say it concisely, every weather forecast office is launching two weather balloons a day, and we are also buying additional commercial weather data balloon through our national mesonet and commercial data programs.
▶ 1:20:52>> and then from my knowledge, uh, human intellect and institutional knowledge and also ai very concisely talked to me about how they work together in about 30s and how that transformation is still making us safe and that there are human eyes making those decisions. Uh, as ai is looking at those 4 or 200 different units that you are looking at. >> yeah, that's a, that's a great question.
▶ 1:21:17So at the moment for, for ai, we are, we are looking at ai and we have rolled out an ai model, but we also have a traditional physics based model that is not with ai and that is our traditional global forecast system, gfs. So we're ensuring that we have the continuation of our existing model, which does not have ai in it. And then we have a parallel model that does have ai in it to ensure that we are understanding ai, that we are utilizing best practices for ai, and that we can roll out and still have an accurate forecast.
▶ 1:21:46Because sometimes the math behind an ai model is different than a physics based model, right? >> and is human or humans working with those models? >> yes, sir. Humans are in the loop forecasting. >> okay. And so you're telling me romeoville is fully staffed and that that is one of the current situations? >> I believe that romeo romeoville is adequately staffed running 24 over seven. I believe they have a potentially a single vacancy at this time. Okay.
▶ 1:22:13>> and when looking at how the national weather service does post-event surveys, reports and assessments, how do you plan on building upon previous successful deployments of commercial data? And how do you see noaa working with nasa and the national reconnaissance office to ensure each agency can fulfill its mission set and leverage existing programs across the agencies? >> that's a that's a great question. Um, that I'll try to say concisely. So I have. >> a lot of good questions. >> you too.
▶ 1:22:41Um, so for nasa, uh, noaa relies on nasa to help us with our satellite programs. Nasa has expertise and they have different congressional authorities that that noaa does not actually have. So we, we work with nasa to ensure that our satellites are able to be built to the specifications needed. Um, we also ensure that all of our other data sets and observing systems are, are adequate and that we have the appropriate mix of a government backbone versus buying additional commercial data.
▶ 1:23:12>> okay. The indiana and the midwest is often severe weather. And, uh, I just know that the responsibility of forecasting saves lives. And however, I can be an advocate to make sure that that information gets back to the residents. 24 seven is something that I will do. I appreciate you being here today. >> thank you. Chairman, the gentleman has expired. Um, Mr. alford. >> thank you, chairman rogers and ranking member for holding this important hearing today.
▶ 1:23:37Today, the subcommittee turns its attention to the national weather service, an agency whose work is not abstract or optional but essential to protecting american lives, livelihoods and our local communities. Whether it's a tornado outbreak in the midwest, a flash flood along the missouri river basin, or a winter storm sweeping across the plains, the national weather service is the first line of defense. Our job on the subcommittee is to make sure that the resources congress provides are used efficiently, transparently and in direct support of that core mission.
▶ 1:24:07Accurate forecasts, timely warnings, and reliable communications when americans need it most. Having been in the local broadcast media for more than 35 years, I recognize the importance of the relationships between the meteorologist and the local media markets and those in our regional and local noaa offices. I've seen firsthand just how critical these investments are and the radar and observation in places like missouri's fourth congressional district, served by the pleasant hill weather forecast office.
▶ 1:24:36We must make sure that rural communities are served as promptly and efficiently as major coastal communities. Last year, missouri experienced the deadliest tornado since the 2011 tornado in joplin, missouri, that I covered. We lost 16 missourians last year more than $1.6 billion in damages in saint louis. We must make sure the national weather service remains the gold standard for weather forecasting and hazard warnings.
▶ 1:25:05For fiscal year 26, the subcommittee secured almost 104 million in increased funding for the national weather service, which is an incredible opportunity for noaa to make sure that it has improvised, that has improved staffing tools and technology. It needs to fulfill its mission. Thank you. That was a rather long winded Mr. jordan, but I do appreciate you being here. There was some talk last year about moving to more centralized forecasting centers. Has that changed?
▶ 1:25:33How many how many local weather forecast offices are there, and are there any in danger of closing? >> thank you for the question, sir. We have no plans to close weather forecast offices at this time. When I mentioned earlier the reorganization, that just allows the efficiency and to work toward a demand based model where you have forecasters, where you need them doing the jobs that they need to do. So I talked about awips to the cloud.
▶ 1:26:01That is also a tool to allow forecasters to, to forecast weather for anywhere from anywhere. So we're giving people the tools, but we're not looking at closing offices. >> so while those offices may not be closed, they might not have as much staff there to interact on a personal level with meteorologists at radio stations and tv stations, they may be talking to someone in dallas, texas, rather than pleasant hill, missouri. Is that correct?
▶ 1:26:27>> so we haven't made those decisions yet on what the staffing looks like, but we are not we are not changing staffing levels based on the reorganization. We are not changing offices, and we're not asking people to move. >> you use the term forecasters. You're talking about hiring 400 additional individuals. I think you said that 200 are in the process or some what I guess another 200 that are vacancies left when you use the term forecasters.
▶ 1:26:55Are you talking about meteorologists or support individuals? >> meteorologists. Okay, sorry. >> and when you talk about being adequately staffed, what does that look like at a local forecast center. >> to us, adequately staffed means an office is able to run 24 over seven and is able to continue to operate in a way that provides the information from the public or to the public.
▶ 1:27:25>> and my last question is, um, I said previously that we've experienced devastating tornadoes. We're just entering now the spring weather, um, season. What are the current actions being taken to improve tornado research? And how will noaa implement the increased funds to deliver timely and accurate weather data to americans? >> thank you for the question. So, um, as I've mentioned earlier, we focus on, uh, specifically the observations and our weather model.
▶ 1:27:53That's one thing, but we also focus on the research and one of the, the success stories out of our weather research offices is our warn on forecast, which specifically looks at severe weather and tornado warning lead times. And we operationalize that last year. And we've seen it, we've seen great success come out of that. And that directly impacts our our lead times for tornadoes. >> well, thank you for the job you do and will continue to do for our great nation. With that, I yield back. >> thank you sir. >> someone yields back. That concludes today's hearing.
▶ 1:28:22I want to thank our witness, assistant secretary jordan, for his presence today. Uh, and thanks for the compliments on our staff. Our committee informing their questions. He said numerous times that he wanted to thank us for our questions.
▶ 1:28:47Um, without objection, members may have seven days to submit additional questions for the record. The subcommittee stands adjourned. All right. >> live did not.