Lives are being put in danger,” one meteorologist warned, as some experts feared the cuts will harm public safety.

Current and former agency officials and lawmakers said the cuts could have major impacts on Americans and the economy, compromising important functions.

In severe weather situations — like tornado outbreaks or an approaching hurricane — inaccurate weather forecasts can be a matter of life and death, said Pam Knox, an agricultural climatologist at the University of Georgia.

NOAA — which includes the National Hurricane Center and the Tsunami Warning Center — is the latest in a string of federal agencies targeted for cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The terminations come days before a potential severe weather outbreak in the southeastern U.S. — and just months ahead of the next Atlantic hurricane season.

Before Hazelton joined NOAA’s Environmental Modeling Center, which keeps federal weather models running, he was on a team that developed NOAA’s next-generation hurricane-modeling system, which successfully predicted the rapid intensification of Hurricanes Milton and Helene last year.

Energy & Environment Energy & Environment   The Big Story How the NOAA firings could affect Americans’ lives The Trump administration fired hundreds of

NOAA's weather data is freely available and critical for meteorologists to create accurate forecasts. But that's not all NOAA does. How its different divisions impact your life.

The NWS has personnel and weather radar in Wake, New Hanover and Carteret counties. The National Climatic Data Center, another division of NOAA, is located in Asheville.