A quick update on NOAA. At last report, staffing cuts at local offices have left 13 U.S. sites with no weather balloon coverage, or one launch a day instead of two. Why should we care? It’s like trying to finish a puzzle with 13 pieces missing. A lack of upper air temperature, wind and humidity data will undermine our ability to determine when the upper atmosphere is ripe for tornadoes and hail — and degrade the data that goes into weather models, impacting forecast accuracy.
Our weather tools are being actively degraded by firings and 20-40% vacancy rates at some National Weather Service offices. Anyone wanting accurate forecasts should be concerned.
Some good news? Minnesota will slide into a wetter pattern the latter half of April, with a series of sloppy rainstorms to aid spring planting. Despite a cooler burp of Canadian air early next week, daytime highs are forecast to reach the 60s for 12 of the next 15 days. I suspect the first severe thunderstorms (with hail and high winds) may be two weeks away. Spring warm fronts will do that.
