National Weather Service cutting back on weather balloon launches

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- It's easy to take your daily forecast for granted, and you can always rely on the ABC57 Team to bring you up to the minute weather information.

But the way that we get that data is at risk.

ABC57 Meteorologist Oliver Moster discusses a very simple technology that is used to gather weather data for our reports, and even the weather app on your phone, but federal funding cuts are making it more difficult to get that data.

The forecast offices in Kotzebue, Alaska, Albany, New York and Gray, Maine are cutting back the amount of weather balloons they launch.

This is because they do not have enough staff to launch weather balloons at the scheduled times because of National Weather Service cuts.

New York, Maine, and especially Alaska may seem far away from Michiana, but the information that these weather balloons provide is extremely valuable, not just for meteorologists.

According to the NWS, weather balloons are launched two times per day from 100 sites across the United States and the Caribbean and are still one of the most reliable ways to get atmospheric data.

These launches are important because all of the weather models run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration need to use the data from the network of weather balloons to get the best picture of the atmosphere possible so we can accurately forecast.

The Alaska office decreasing its launches would affect Michiana.

Without reliable data from an observation site upstream, the forecasts you see on TV and on your phone are less accurate.

This includes information like the temperature, wind speeds, and humidity.

Industries like aviation, international trade, and agriculture all rely on this information.

These changes went into effect last week, so you could see the impact as soon as today