Weather Service Modernization Staffing

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the National Weather Service's (NWS) Modernization and Restructuring Program, focusing on current and future staffing levels and field office structure. GAO noted that: (1) although NWS has proposed to reduce its staff by 21 percent, its onboard staffing and target staffing levels have increased; (2) as of September 1995, the NWS staffing level was 5,230 and its target staffing level for the modernized and restructured NWS had grown to 4,678; (3) NWS attributes its staffing increase to the need for more staff to operate and maintain new systems and to unanticipated requirements that are beyond its control; and (4) although the current NWS field office restructuring goal has held relatively steady since fiscal year 1989, its plans for closing these offices are unclear and subject to ongoing deliberations.