HOUSTON — The National Weather Service has received emergency clearance to hire roughly 125 new meteorologists and specialists, CNN reports, following months of growing concern over critical staffing shortages and an active hurricane season already underway.

Citing unnamed sources, CNN says the temporary lift of a federal hiring freeze could help forecast offices currently unable to staff overnight shifts or operate 24/7 — a situation impacting several offices, including ones in Goodland, Kansas, and Sacramento, California.

It’s unclear if the Houston-Galveston area office will benefit from the new hires. That facility, located in League City, has been operating without a meteorologist in charge and with nearly half its forecast staff missing, according to recent reports from both KHOU 1

See Full Page