• May 2025 (Earlier in the month): Five former directors of the National Weather Service write a "letter to the American people" expressing concern about staffing shortages and reduced resources, such as weather balloon deployments.
• May 15, 2025: USA TODAY publishes an article highlighting that National Weather Service offices are short-staffed following Trump administration cuts, with some offices no longer operating 24/7. The article also mentions offers for current employees to transfer to fill 155 vacant positions, including 76 meteorologist positions.
• May 16, 2025 (Thursday): The National Weather Service office in Jackson, Kentucky, recognizing the threat of a major severe weather outbreak, decides to fully staff the overnight shift despite being short-staffed.
• May 17, 2025 (Friday): A severe weather system sweeps through the central U.S., including Missouri and Kentucky.
• Afternoon Rush Hour (St. Louis): The path of destruction from a likely tornado begins on a major thoroughfare in St. Louis before moving east.
• Friday (Throughout the day): A tornado strikes several rural areas in Scott County, Missouri, killing two people and injuring several others.
• Friday (Throughout the day): Five people die and 38 are injured in the St. Louis area. Over 5,000 homes in the city are affected.
• Friday (Overnight into Saturday): A devastating tornado impacts Laurel County, Kentucky, at 11:49 p.m.
• May 17, 2025 (Saturday):
• Morning: As of Saturday morning, at least 21 people have died across Missouri and Kentucky (14 in Kentucky, 7 in Missouri). The death toll is expected to rise.
• Saturday: Rescue teams continue searching for survivors in damaged areas.
• Saturday (Throughout the day): City inspectors in St. Louis begin condemning unsafe structures.
• Saturday evening: Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear confirms at least 18 deaths in Kentucky and speaks at a press conference in London, Kentucky.
• Saturday evening: St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer confirms five deaths in the city, over 30 injuries, and approximately 5,000 impacted buildings.
• Saturday night (9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday): A curfew is in effect in St. Louis due to downed power lines and to protect property.
• May 18, 2025 (Sunday):
• As of Sunday, the death toll from the recent storms across multiple states exceeds two dozen.
• Sunday: In London, Kentucky, people whose houses were destroyed work to salvage belongings and put up tarps. Zach Wilson describes the scene at his parents' ruined home.
• Sunday: St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson warns residents to prepare for approaching weather.
• Sunday: The National Weather Service warns of a "multitude of hazardous weather" expected over the next several days.
• Sunday: City inspectors continue to assess damaged areas in St. Louis and condemn unsafe structures.
• Sunday: Authorities confirm two storm-related deaths in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., caused by falling trees.
• Sunday: The NWS Employees Union confirms that short staffing at the Jackson, Kentucky office did not affect tornado warnings for the deadly storms.
• Week of May 19, 2025:
• More severe storms are expected to roll across the central U.S.
• Thunderstorms are expected to develop in the afternoon and persist into the evening across parts of the Plains into the Ozarks.
• Another storm system is expected to pick up to the west, with strong tornadoes in the forecast for parts of the Plains by Sunday.

• January 2025: A government-wide hiring freeze begins in the United States, impacting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its subsidiary, the National Weather Service (NWS).
• February 2025: Approximately 250 NWS employees are fired or take buyouts as part of staffing cuts.
• Sometime between February and May 2025: An additional 300 NWS employees depart the agency, bringing the total number of recent departures and firings to an estimated 500 out of a staff that numbered over 4,200 before President Trump's second term.
• Early May 2025: Five former NWS chiefs issue an open letter warning that the Trump administration's cuts could lead to "a needless loss of life" and that offices are so thinly staffed some roles will have to be filled on a part-time basis.
• Prior to May 14, 2025: NOAA and NWS internal documents reveal a range of open positions across the country. NOAA managers send emails pleading with employees to pursue reassignments, even if they amount to demotions, to fill these gaps. Notices are sent to employees offering to pay moving expenses for staff willing to transfer to critically understaffed offices.
• May 14, 2025:POLITICO first reports on Wednesday morning that NOAA posted 155 job openings at the NWS.
• House Democrats on the Science, Space and Technology Committee, including Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Gabe Amo, raise alarms about the staffing shortages at the NWS, warning the U.S. is ill-prepared for disasters ahead of hurricane season.
• At a Capitol Hill event, Rep. Zoe Lofgren states that NOAA managers are "frantically trying to fill the gaps" and there appears to be a "panic level" to undo the damage to the weather service. Tom DiLiberto, a former NOAA official, speaks at the event, expressing concern about readiness for hurricane season and highlighting the shuttering of NOAA's database of billion-dollar disasters.
• The Washington Post reports on the NOAA's scramble to fill forecasting jobs, noting the 155 vacancies and that some offices have stopped operating 24 hours a day due to thin staffing. The article mentions offices in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Wyoming, Michigan, Oregon, and Alaska are affected or expected to be affected by overnight closures.
• The Independent reports on the situation, citing CNN's report of 155 jobs the NWS is trying to fill and The Washington Post's report about offering moving expenses. The article also mentions NOAA is retiring its tool to track billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. Dr. Andrew Hazelton, a former Hurricane Hunter who lost his job in the recent layoffs, comments on the situation.
• May 27, 2025 (Deadline): The NWS is seeking to fill the 155 job vacancies by this date.
• June 1, 2025 (Official Start): The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins. Offices in Fairbanks, Alaska, are expected to have overnight closures starting on this date due to vacancies.
• Ongoing in 2025: NOAA staff is expected to fall by 20 percent due to retirements, deferred resignation programs, firings, and a forthcoming reduction-in-force.

The Trump administration is targeting the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Energy Star program for elimination as part of a broader reorganization and deregulatory effort focused on air pollution offices. This move is viewed as a significant step away from the previous administration's focus on climate change and energy efficiency. The Energy Star program, a voluntary labeling initiative for energy-efficient products, has been widely successful in saving consumers money on energy bills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Its potential demise raises concerns about consumer choice, the ability to identify efficient products, and the future of energy efficiency efforts in the United States.

1. Targeting of the Energy Star Program:

• The core issue is the EPA's plan to eliminate its Energy Star offices as part of a reorganization. This was first reported by CNN and confirmed through agency documents reviewed by the Associated Press.
• The EPA's stated rationale is "delivering organizational improvements to the personnel structure that will directly benefit the American people and better advance the agency's core mission, while Powering the Great American Comeback." (AP/NPR)
• The plan advances President Trump's "sharp turn away from the prior administration's focus on climate change." (AP/NPR)
• Trump's proposed budget specifically asks Congress to eliminate the EPA's entire Atmospheric Protection Program, which houses the Energy Star offices, describing the program as "an overreach of Government authority that imposes unnecessary and radical climate change regulations on businesses and stifles economic growth." (AP/NPR)

1. Success and Popularity of Energy Star:
2. The program is "extraordinarily popular, saves American families about $450 annually and may go away very soon." (The Washington Post)
3. An estimated 90 percent of the public is aware of the Energy Star label. (The New York Times, The Washington Post)
4. Since its start in 1992, the program has reduced energy costs by "more than $500 billion and prevented about 4 billion metric tons of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions." (AP/NPR, The Washington Post, Canary Media)
5. For every dollar the federal government spends on the program, consumers save an estimated $350. (Canary Media)
6. Energy Star has enjoyed bipartisan support until recently. (Steven Nadel, ACEEE, AP/NPR)
7. It has motivated manufacturers to improve the efficiency of their appliances, with Energy Star-certified appliances now dominating many market segments (e.g., 96% of dishwashers). (The Washington Post)

1. Impact of Energy Star's Potential Elimination:
2. Losing Energy Star will make it "harder for consumers to have trustworthy information about products' energy use." (Sarah Gleeson, Project Drawdown, AP/NPR)
3. Consumers will "have to pay more and work harder to identify which appliances will use the least energy and save the most money." (The Washington Post)
4. Broader "All-Out War on Energy Efficiency":

• The targeting of Energy Star is part of a wider assault on American energy efficiency efforts. (Canary Media)
• Other programs under threat include the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides financial support to vulnerable households for utility costs and weatherization. The administration has fired staff and proposed eliminating the program. (Canary Media)
• The administration is also targeting efficiency standards for appliances, building codes, and federal buildings, arguing they result in more expensive and less effective products and deny consumer choice. (AP/NPR, Canary Media)