The National Weather Service has taken steps to begin filling some of the more than 550 positions left vacant by federal cutbacks and early retirements since Inauguration Day. Earlier in the summer, the agency received an emergency hiring exemption to fill 126 of its vacant positions and has begun to post those jobs on usajobs.gov. But in an all-hands meeting on Aug. 4, weather service employees learned the agency has since received permission to hire a total of 450 people by September 2026. … [Retired NWS meteorologist Brian] LaMarre said it’s also good news that hydrologists will be among those hired. It could allow the agency to follow through on a plan to place hydrologists in state emergency operations centers, to assist in forecasting flood events. 

Other NOAA and weather forecasting news:

• Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.): Boulder NOAA impact unclear as National Weather Service to hire hundreds of people
• NBC News: NWS to rehire workers after deep DOGE cuts​
• The Conversation: Blog: It’s challenging to predict extreme thunderstorms — improving this will help reduce their deadly and costly impacts