Federal agencies are still dealing with the effects of across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration.
The National Weather Service was already under a hiring freeze and now -- mandatory unpaid days off.
Weather Service meteorologists are concerned about the effect that could have on their ability to keep the public informed.
Marianne Sutton is a spokesperson the National Weather Service Employees Organization who works at the .
鈥淣obody in the National Weather Service has taken the job for money or for glory, that鈥檚 for sure," Sutton says, "but our concern with the reduced staffing is we are a 24/7 operation and we can鈥檛 just tell a tornado, you know, hey, hold on, wait until Monday when we have more people here.鈥�
Sutton also says her organization is not asking for a bigger budget for the Weather Service and says there are ways to reduce costs 鈥� she cites NOAA research projects as an example 鈥� that don鈥檛 require cutting work hours at forecast offices.
