Meteorologist John Morales Warns NOAA Cuts Will Hurt Accurate Hurricane Prediction

Miami meteorologist John Morales, who went viral last year for getting emotional on air while reporting on Hurricane Milton's rapid growth as a Category 5 storm, is back in the news for another viral moment.

During the WTVJ (Channel 6) evening newscast on June 2, he warned viewers that the ongoing staffing cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will impact weather forecasters' ability to accurately predict hurricanes.

He opened his weather forecast with a clip from a 2019 newscast where he confidently told South Florida viewers that they did not have to worry about Hurricane Dorian, as the Category 5 storm ravaged the Bahamas. 

"Lots of people in Florida were concerned that the hurricane was heading here, and as you've grown accustomed to my presentations over my 34 years in South Florida newscasts, confidently, I went on TV and told you, 'It's going to turn; you don't need to worry. It's going to turn,'" Morales said.

However, Morales said he will no longer be able to properly prepare Floridians for a potential hurricane thanks to the federal government cuts.

"And I am here to tell you that I am not sure I can do that because of the cuts, gutting; the sledgehammer attack on science," he warned.
NOAA and NWS employees are working during an "above-normal" hurricane season while the Trump administration slashes staff and proposes a $1.5 billion budget cut to the NOAA (which encompasses the NWS), fueling fears that stronger storms and less climate research will result in "needless loss of life," according to several former NWS directors in a May open letter.

Morales called it a "multigenerational impact on science" and cited statistics showing that South Florida NOAA and NWS offices are 20 to 40 percent understaffed. He said we may no longer know a hurricane's true strength until it makes landfall.

"This type of staffing shortage is having impacts across the nation because there's been a nearly 20 percent reduction in weather balloon launches that carry those radio signs, and what we are starting to see is that the quality of the forecasts is becoming degraded," he added.

He then urged viewers to call their representatives and push back against the government cuts.

Morales has been at the forefront of sounding the alarm on global warming and climate change's impacts on hurricane development amid conspiracy theories that the federal government is manipulating storms.

In October 2024, Morales choked up while reporting on Hurricane Milton's rapid development in the Gulf of Mexico, given the warming water temperatures. The clip quickly garnered national attention.

"I apologize, this is just horrific," he said as he fought back tears.