‘Forecasts are going to suffer’: NWS cuts back on weather balloons in Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Forecasts in Nebraska will be impacted as the National Weather Service cuts down on weather balloon launches.

Every weather service location used to send up weather balloons twice a day.

The balloons gather data in the atmosphere like the temperature, humidity, pressure and winds.

And meteorologists then use that information in weather models.

But the weather service ended weather balloon launches altogether in multiple locations, including Omaha, citing a lack of staffing.

And it’s also cutting down on launches at North Platte.

“There is no other data so there is no replacement for it,” said Adam Houston, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “If you’re missing the data to initialize these forecasts, well, then the forecasts are going to suffer.”

All of this leaves a massive gap in data, centered over Nebraska.

“Yeah, sure, it’s going to impact Nebraska,” Houston said. “But it’s going to impact a lot of people.”

He said it will create a ripple effect not only in neighboring states, but potentially even further away.

“The weather is very connected,” he said. “If we have inaccuracies in one part of the country because of missing data, it could affect large parts of the country.”

The weather service said it will send up balloons when there is severe weather.

But Houston said major storms aren’t his main concern.

“The issue is: Are we going to lose data for events that are a bit more challenging – that we really do need this data to fill in some of the gaps?” he asked.

Houston said he hopes research will be done to show the impact this will have on forecasts, but he fears the loss of data could be irreplaceable.