SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Due to recent budget cuts, the National Weather Service is completely eliminating weather balloon launches -- except in the case of severe weather -- for two more stations in the U.S. and reducing the number of launches to one per day for six more stations.

One of the stations with reduced launches is in Green Bay, which serves as a critical data point for forecasters/meteorologists in Michiana due to its proximity to Lake Michigan and position relative to us when forecasting lake effect snow.

Balloon launches record wind speed and intensity, moisture in the atmosphere, and other variables at different heights that are vital to forecasting lake effect snow in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.

Without actual observed data, meteorologists will have to rely on model data that sometimes inaccurately assumes current weather conditions.