NWS hiring dozens of employees, including in Nebraska

The National Weather Service is hiring for dozens of jobs across the country, including a few in offices that serve Nebraska.

According to job listings on the USA Jobs website, the weather service is hiring for two meteorologist positions in its North Platte office, which is one that had to suspend some operations earlier this year because of understaffing.

That’s the only Nebraska-based office that currently lists openings, but a couple of others that provide forecasting services to parts of Nebraska also are hiring.

The Goodland, Kansas, office, which covers three counties in southwest Nebraska, has two openings listed for lead meteorologists. The Cheyenne, Wyoming, office, which provides coverage to several counties in the Panhandle, has an opening for a meteorologist.

The hiring comes after reported personnel shortages earlier this year caused several offices to have to cut back on operations.

The North Platte office cut back its daily weather balloon launches from two to one and the Omaha office suspended the launches altogether back in March because of low staffing that was attributed to layoffs and a federal hiring freeze. The balloon launches resumed in April after 1st District Rep. Mike Flood intervened and convinced White House officials to end the hiring freeze for the weather service and open up temporary assignments in offices that were understaffed.

Flood also introduced a bipartisan bill in June in the House of Representatives that would classify weather service employees as crucial to public safety, which would largely spare them from future federal hiring freezes and workforce reduction measures.

It’s not clear how many employees the weather service plans to hire overall. A spokesperson said the agency, “is carefully evaluating the need for additional personnel and posting jobs to fill positions deemed necessary for operational continuity.”

“These jobs are being offered as needed to ensure both the safety of Americans and the responsible use of taxpayer dollars,” the spokesperson said.