The National Weather Service office in St. Louis is short on meteorologists — by 20%. The office in Pleasant Hill is short by 40%.
As a result, these Missouri offices are sharing each other's workload, a concept known as cooperative operations.
The offices share the responsibilities and tasks to provide accurate weather reports for each office's coverage areas.
Tom Fahy, the legislative director of the National Weather Service Employee Organization, said the practice is fairly new and happening across all markets facing staff vacancies due to cuts from the Trump administration and DOGE.
From 2010 to 2025, NWS became short-staffed by 600 people. Fahy said this was because individuals retired or left by attrition.
Fahy and another source familiar to situation said the weather service lost an additional 600 staff members — just this year — from DOGE and the Trump administration's cuts.
"Between 2010 and [2025] we were in the process of recruiting and hiring replacement employees," Fahy said. "Unfortunately, President Trump has put in place a hiring freeze."
Fahy said cooperative operations between the two offices is a Band-aid solution to a more severe problem. A source familiar to the situation spoke with KBIA on the premise of anonymity. They said they're worried the offices might not keep enough staff to stay fully operational.
"[NWS is] a 24/7 operation," the source said. "We staff our office so that we're constantly watching weather because Mother Nature doesn't sleep."
St. Louis suffered from severe storms and a tornado May 16, resulting in the deaths of five individuals and others injured.
When asked if the St. Louis weather service office had any staffing problems during the storms, St. Louis meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said they've had the "normal amount" of people they've had the last several springs.
Fahy and the source familiar with the situation said that "normal amount" is most likely thanks to meteorologists working overtime and virtual help from Pleasant Hill.
The source familiar with the situation said most weather service meteorologists are working overtime.
"You can only work so many overtime shifts before you're just burned-out," they said. "We need our folks to have rest periods because when there is severe weather, we need our folks to be as alert as much as possible."
While all of Missouri's offices still operate 24/7, other offices have not been as lucky. For example, the office in Goodland, Kansas — located Northwest of the state — stops operating between 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., said Fahy. Other offices in the surrounding area now monitor the Goodland area during these hours.
The NWS has made recent attempts to gain exemption from the federal workforce hiring freeze.
While Fahy and other sources said the weather service staff still try to provide accurate reporting, the meteorologist shortage and hiring freeze make this goal a challenge.
"The threat is there," the anonymous source said, "that something might be missed."
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