Sean Freeman
@wxsean.bsky.social
Atmospheric Science Professor. Interested in all things clouds and storms using data science, modeling, and observations. tobac core team. Views mine, not my employer’s.
Unidata facing an indefinite funding gap is devastating. The people that work there are passionate and amazing, and I am heartbroken.
Unidata manages critical infrastructure in the weather enterprise. Everyone knows NetCDF (a Unidata project), but I want to highlight some lesser known contributions
Unidata manages critical infrastructure in the weather enterprise. Everyone knows NetCDF (a Unidata project), but I want to highlight some lesser known contributions
Due to the current gap in funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the NSF Unidata Program is pausing most operations effective 12 May 2025. Nearly all staff will be furloughed until funds from our existing NSF grant become available. For more information, see buff.ly/d2TC1Oy
NSF Unidata Pause in Most Operations
NSF Unidata Pause in Most Operations
www.unidata.ucar.edu
May 10, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Unidata facing an indefinite funding gap is devastating. The people that work there are passionate and amazing, and I am heartbroken.
Unidata manages critical infrastructure in the weather enterprise. Everyone knows NetCDF (a Unidata project), but I want to highlight some lesser known contributions
Unidata manages critical infrastructure in the weather enterprise. Everyone knows NetCDF (a Unidata project), but I want to highlight some lesser known contributions
Reposted by Sean Freeman
The 2026 budget passback plan calls for eliminating NOAA Research, the scientific backbone that keeps weather forecasts, alerts, and warnings accurate and effective. This would have disastrous consequences.
Read the AMS statement, in partnership w/ @nwas.org: bit.ly/4cz2RtC
Read the AMS statement, in partnership w/ @nwas.org: bit.ly/4cz2RtC
Stand Up for NOAA Research – The Time to Act is Now
The AMS is a global community committed to advancing weather, water, and climate science and service.
bit.ly
April 17, 2025 at 6:42 PM
The 2026 budget passback plan calls for eliminating NOAA Research, the scientific backbone that keeps weather forecasts, alerts, and warnings accurate and effective. This would have disastrous consequences.
Read the AMS statement, in partnership w/ @nwas.org: bit.ly/4cz2RtC
Read the AMS statement, in partnership w/ @nwas.org: bit.ly/4cz2RtC
Funny thing about climate data. AI companies *need* this data to train their models. Gutting climate data hurts AI competitiveness.
The Trump administration plans to eliminate the research arm of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, close all weather and climate labs and eviscerate its budget along with several other NOAA offices, according to internal documents obtained by CNN.
Trump’s draft budget eviscerates weather and climate tracking and research | CNN
The move would devastate weather and climate research even as weather is becoming more erratic and extreme, and would cripple the US industries — including agriculture — that depend on free, accurate ...
www.cnn.com
April 11, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Funny thing about climate data. AI companies *need* this data to train their models. Gutting climate data hurts AI competitiveness.
Thank goodness, but this kind of uncertainty is not great, and is going to cause a lot of people (me included!) to reconsider how we access data. I know I’ll be looking to buy more disks the next time I can…
"There will be no interruption in service. All NOAA Research sites will remain online," a NOAA spokesperson told Axios Friday afternoon. www.axios.com/2025/04/04/n...
NOAA research websites slated to go dark get reprieve with contract extension
NOAA is under a mandate to slash its IT costs.
www.axios.com
April 4, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Thank goodness, but this kind of uncertainty is not great, and is going to cause a lot of people (me included!) to reconsider how we access data. I know I’ll be looking to buy more disks the next time I can…
It is hard to know what data are actually affected, but in particular, if the AWS NOAA data are degraded or removed, that is Extremely Bad for forecasters, researchers, and the public. Hurts private industry, especially given the amazing recent development of private sector weather startups.
Almost all NOAA Research websites that rely on cloud services - including Amazon, Google and WordPress - are poised to disappear at midnight ET Saturday after a contract was targeted for "early termination." Labs may also feel the effects.
Story for @bloomberg.com (free link):
Story for @bloomberg.com (free link):
US Weather Agency Websites to Vanish Under Planned Contract Cuts
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency is poised to eliminate most websites tied to its research division under plans for the cancellation of a cloud web services contract, a move that could s...
www.bloomberg.com
April 4, 2025 at 4:36 PM
It is hard to know what data are actually affected, but in particular, if the AWS NOAA data are degraded or removed, that is Extremely Bad for forecasters, researchers, and the public. Hurts private industry, especially given the amazing recent development of private sector weather startups.
Reposted by Sean Freeman
Every private sector entity dealing with natural catastrophe / weather / climate risk is hugely dependent on the freely available data from NOAA / NASA / USGS / FEMA.
It's quality controlled. It's robust. It's essential.
The private weather / climate enterprise cannot function without it either.
It's quality controlled. It's robust. It's essential.
The private weather / climate enterprise cannot function without it either.
April 4, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Every private sector entity dealing with natural catastrophe / weather / climate risk is hugely dependent on the freely available data from NOAA / NASA / USGS / FEMA.
It's quality controlled. It's robust. It's essential.
The private weather / climate enterprise cannot function without it either.
It's quality controlled. It's robust. It's essential.
The private weather / climate enterprise cannot function without it either.
Reposted by Sean Freeman
March 15, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Sean Freeman
Many different resources and info lists are popping up for federal employees losing or at risk of losing their jobs. This one put a lot of those in one place: git-sci.github.io
Home
A Resource Hub for Feds and Associated Folk
git-sci.github.io
February 28, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Many different resources and info lists are popping up for federal employees losing or at risk of losing their jobs. This one put a lot of those in one place: git-sci.github.io
It is obvious to anyone who lives somewhere that is impacted by weather that getting rid of the people improving the US’s weather models is bad. We have made much progress over the last 20+ years, and allowing that to stop puts lives and property at risk.
All probationary federal employees at NOAA’s EMC that’s responsible for keeping all US weather model systems running have been fired with 1 hours notice. And that includes me and colleagues. We will not go quietly because we care about the NOAA mission to protect the public.
February 27, 2025 at 9:43 PM
It is obvious to anyone who lives somewhere that is impacted by weather that getting rid of the people improving the US’s weather models is bad. We have made much progress over the last 20+ years, and allowing that to stop puts lives and property at risk.
This is fantastic and is exactly the kind of thing that our professional societies should be doing. Well done, AMS.
The AMS is temporarily opening its career services to all who need them, regardless of membership status, and offering dues waivers and meeting registration fee reductions for those impacted by job loss due to changes in the government.
Read more: bit.ly/4gRiHAk
Read more: bit.ly/4gRiHAk
February 21, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This is fantastic and is exactly the kind of thing that our professional societies should be doing. Well done, AMS.
Reposted by Sean Freeman
The AMS is temporarily opening its career services to all who need them, regardless of membership status, and offering dues waivers and meeting registration fee reductions for those impacted by job loss due to changes in the government.
Read more: bit.ly/4gRiHAk
Read more: bit.ly/4gRiHAk
February 21, 2025 at 4:09 PM
The AMS is temporarily opening its career services to all who need them, regardless of membership status, and offering dues waivers and meeting registration fee reductions for those impacted by job loss due to changes in the government.
Read more: bit.ly/4gRiHAk
Read more: bit.ly/4gRiHAk
Oh no. Someone tagged all owners of conda-forge packages. It’s a reply-all chain fueled by GitHub.
January 6, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Oh no. Someone tagged all owners of conda-forge packages. It’s a reply-all chain fueled by GitHub.