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Story summary
- U.S. President Donald Trump slashed NOAA’s budget by $1.6-$1.7 billion and cut over 800 positions.
- Elon Musk, head of the U.S. DOGE administration, cut federal weather programs.
- The cuts reduced buoy counts and delayed weather-balloon launches, creating data gaps.
- A 20-year arctic-ice monitoring program and a next-generation weather satellite plan were cancelled.
- Emergency manager Thomas Winter blamed the understaffed Storm Prediction Center for a zero-percent forecast that missed Kansas tornadoes.
