THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STOPPED LAUNCHING WEATHER BALLOONS IN OMAHA AND RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA. THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M JULIE CORNELL. I’M ROB MCCARTNEY. THE CHANGE IS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. AND THE NWS SAYS IT’S BECAUSE OF STAFFING ISSUES. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S MADDIE AUGUSTINE JOINS US NOW WITH THE IMPACT. OMAHA’S WEATHER LEADER SAYS THIS WILL HAVE. YEAH. ROB. JULIE, I’M JOINED NOW WITH METEOROLOGIST LUKE VICKERY AND LUKE. YOU TOLD ME EARLIER THIS MORNING THAT THE NWS OFFICE IN VALLEY JUST LAUNCHED ONE OF THESE WEATHER BALLOONS AT 7 A.M. YEAH, USUALLY THEY’RE LAUNCHED TWICE A DAY, AND WE’LL USE THAT DATA. A LOT OF TIMES TO HELP GIVE US OUR FORECAST AND HELP US WITH OUR COMPUTER MODELS. SO IT WAS KIND OF INTERESTING TO SEE ONE GO UP THIS MORNING. AND THEN THIS AFTERNOON YOU CHECK THE WEBSITE. THERE’S NOT ONE THERE. I ALSO SPOKE WITH CHIEF METEOROLOGIST BILL RANDBY ON JUST HOW SIGNIFICANT THESE CUTS ARE. I CAN’T IMAGINE APRIL 26TH OF LAST YEAR WITHOUT HAVING KNOWN WHAT THE ATMOSPHERE WAS. HAVING THAT DETAILED INFORMATION WAS CRITICAL IN TRYING TO TO FIGURE OUT WHEN TORNADOES WERE GOING TO FORM, HOW QUICKLY THEY MIGHT FORM THAT DETAILED INFORMATION PRESENTED IN DATA LIKE THIS. THE RED LINE IS THE TEMPERATURE AS THE BALLOON ROSE THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE. THE GREEN LINE IS THE DEW POINT. THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE COMING FROM WEATHER BALLOONS LIKE THIS ONE THAT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN VALLEY, NEBRASKA, LAUNCHED DURING SEVERE WEATHER IN 2021. THEY’RE KIND OF THE BACKBONE OF THE WHOLE INFORMATION ACROSS THE COUNTRY. FOR DECADES, THE NWS HAS BEEN LAUNCHING WEATHER BALLOONS TWICE DAILY FROM 100 SITES ACROSS NORTH AMERICA DURING SEVERE WEATHER, POSSIBLY THREE TIMES A DAY, PROVIDING A DETAILED PICTURE OF EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE OVER A GIVEN LOCATION. IT GIVES YOU THAT INFORMATION AS TO HOW WARM THE TEMPERATURES ARE ALOFT, OR HOW MUCH MOISTURE IS THERE. BUT ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON, THE NWS SUSPENDED WEATHER BALLOON OBSERVATIONS AT OMAHA AND RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY DUE TO, QUOTE, A LACK OF WEATHER. FORECAST OFFICE STAFFING. IF YOU HAD STAFF TO DO IT THIS MORNING, BUT NOW YOU DON’T HAVE STAFF TO DO IT, THIS EVENING, SAYS THAT THIS DECISION WAS MADE BY SOMEBODY THAT DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WEATHER. OMAHA’S CHIEF METEOROLOGIST, BILL RANDBY, SAYS WITHOUT THOSE TWO LOCATIONS, IT PUTS THE MIDWEST IN A BIND. TO HAVE A VOID OF DATA RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE WILL MAKE IT HARDER FOR THE COMPUTER MODELS TO BE ACCURATE. ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. AND HE SAYS REMOVING THE TOOLS FROM THE EQUATION IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO HOW METEOROLOGISTS WILL OPERATE DURING SEVERE WEATHER. LIKE WEDNESDAY’S BLIZZARD. IF YOU HAVE LESS ABILITY TO BE ACCURATE OR TO BE DETAIL ORIENTED, THAT’S GOING TO HURT THOSE KINDS OF FORECASTS. I DID REACH OUT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASKING HOW MANY STAFF MEMBERS THE OFFICES ARE SHORT AND HOW MANY ARE NEEDED TO ALLOW WEATHER BALLOON OPERATIONS. AGAIN IN OMAHA AND RAPID CITY. I DID NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE. IT’S ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THE NEXT CLOSEST LOCATIONS IN NORTH PLATTE AND ABERDEEN, SOUTH DAKOTA, HAVE ALSO BEEN RESTRI