NOAA

Accuracy will be crucial again in 2025, as meteorologists predict another active Atlantic hurricane season, yet cuts in staffing and threats to funding at NOAA are diminishing operations that forecasters rely on.

In the preseason outlook issued Thursday, forecasters say warm ocean temperatures are the main reason the season is again expected to busier than normal.  ”Everything's in place for an above-average season,” said National Weather Service Director Ken Graham,  ”No matter the forecast, what do we always say? It only takes one. So we gotta be prepared.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fired hundreds of employees at the end of February, including meteorologists. Experts and scientists expressed concern that these cuts will affect forecasting systems’ reliability and accuracy.

The government estimates that NOAA’s projects and services support more than one-third of the nation’s gross domestic product. Yet, this is one of the agencies that the Trump administration has targeted.

Florida Democrats are warning the Trump White House that cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could be dangerous to the state.

The Trump administration may end leases for some of NOAA's offices while the agency terminates several advisory committees at the important weather and climate agency.

Thursday's mass firings at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — including nearly two dozen on Virginia Key and more than 600 nationwide — could stall improvements to hurricane forecasting and delay seasonal outlooks. “ It's going to take years, years for NOAA to recover the trust of the next generation of brilliant environmental scientists," said a former administrator.

Project 2025, the conservative policy blueprint for a Republican administration, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration "should be broken up and downsized."

Forecasters tweaked the number of expected named storms from 17 to 25 to 17 to 24. Of those named storms, 8 to 13 are still likely to become hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 75 mph.

The Gulf of Mexico's 'dead zone' is above average this year. Also known as hypoxia, it's an area in the water with low or no oxygen, and it can kill marine life.

AccuWeather hurricane experts warn that all the ingredients are coming together for explosive tropical development in the Atlantic this year — especially in the second half of season.

The first survey of Florida’s reefs after an ‘apocalyptic’ marine heat wave offers a bleak picture of the future of the state’s renowned corals — and the restoration efforts to save them.