Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN) - Given record-breaking numbers of high-impact weather events happening throughout New York and the country, as well as a Project 2025 proposal calling for the privatization of weather forecasting services , U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is vowing to secure more aid for forecasting services, and put a stop to a potentially "extreme" proposal.
The U.S. Senate Majority Leader made a stop to the National Weather Service's Buffalo headquarters in Cheektowaga on Tuesday, a forecasting office that serves 16 counties in Upstate New York. Schumer announced his push for a $30 million federal investment to boost New York's networks of weather monitoring systems, known as "mesonets", as well as increase funding for NOAA's weather satellites.
"The mesonets are little satellites in effect on the ground. I believe there are 127 of them in New York State, and they are not only more localized, so they can help us localize where the weather is, but they are more accurate and are able to [give information] in advance, because they're able to look at the atmosphere at different layers," Schumer explained during Tuesday's press conference.
In addition, Schumer is raising the alarm on a proposal outlined in Project 2025, a series of proposals drafted by a conservative think tank known as The Heritage Foundation.
"They want to privatize the whole Weather Service," Schumer said.
"What does that mean? That means it's going to cost a lot more money to get weather reports. If you're a big business or a wealthy individual, you might be able to afford it. But what about our little homeowners, our little small businesses, our little farmers? Weather Service has always been something the federal government has done to help people understand the weather, to save dollars so they can predict and react. But this report would cut funding across the board, and privatize the National Weather Service, and that means it could put weather reports that everyone relies on behind a paywall."
According to NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration) assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction, Dr. Michael Morgan, we are living in record-breaking times for extreme weather events not just in New York State, but in the country.
"From record breaking tornado events, excessive rainfall, heat waves, intense wildfires and hurricanes. So far, just in this year, we've had the most number of severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings to date since 2011," said Dr. Morgan.
Over 1,300 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, over 2,000 Tornado Warnings, 45 states with Flash Flood Warnings, 48 states with River Flood Warnings, and more than 121,000 wildfires have taken place as of the middle of this year, July, 1. In addition, June of 2024 marked the warmest June on record for global average surface temperatures, and the 13th-consecutive month of record-high global temperatures.
In Western New York alone, between July 9 and Aug. 19, there were 32 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, eight Tornado Warnings and four Flash Flood Warnings.
"New Yorkers have experienced 28 tornadoes so far this year, which is about three times what is expected for the region. This includes a record for July, of the most tornadoes occurring in one month in New York State's recorded history. Although this trend may or may not continue in the future, becoming more prepared for tornadoes will help us become more resilient to other types of severe weather as well," added Dr. Susan Clark, a UB faculty expert on sustainability, societal impacts of climate change, sustainable infrastructure and community resilience.
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