Staffing cuts push NOAA to buy weather data from private balloon and drone firms

Staffing cuts push NOAA to buy weather data from private balloon and drone firms

Facing a dwindling federal balloon network, the National Weather Service began purchasing high-altitude observations from startups this year to shore up forecasts ahead of a busy hurricane season.Meg Wilcox reports for Inside Climate News.In short:Trump-era reductions left at least a dozen NWS launch sites idle, including Kotzebue, Alaska, forcing a pause in routine radiosonde flights.WindBorne Systems and other venture-backed firms now sell bal…