National Weather Service Boston meteorologist reportedly axed in NOAA cuts: 'Honor of a lifetime'

Rick Sobey, Boston Herald on Feb 27, 2025

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A new meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office is reportedly among the hundreds of NOAA staff members who have been axed by the Trump administration.

Francis Tarasiewicz — who has been tracking snowstorms, damaging winds and other local weather at NWS Boston’s Norton office in the last month — has reportedly been let go.

“Received ‘the email,’ ” Tarasiewicz posted on Thursday after the NOAA layoffs started. “This wouldn’t be half as hard to bear if I hadn’t fought my whole life through foster care and impossible odds to serve this great nation. This past month of serving my community has been the honor of a lifetime.

“The absolute worst part? I just met with management for my one month check-in,” he added. “Their feedback was that I was off to a great start.”

Hundreds of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration staffers got layoff emails on Thursday afternoon, as the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continue to cut the size of the federal workforce across numerous agencies.

Tarasiewicz was a meteorology master’s student at Plymouth State, focused on forecasting weather in New England.

“Another day of watching more great scientists getting fired for pretty much nothing except taking a new job or getting promoted,” WBZ meteorologist Eric Fisher posted in response to the NWS Boston team member being laid off.

“The axe falling at NOAA/NWS today. An absolute shame that will save us nearly nothing and lose us valuable services,” Fisher added.

The Herald reached out to NOAA about the number of staffers being let go in Massachusetts and New England.

“We remain dedicated to our mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience,” a NOAA spokesperson said in a statement. “We aren’t commenting on what may or may not happen in the future. Per long-standing practice, we are not discussing internal personnel and management matters.”

NOAA has several researchers who are very active along Cape Cod and the Massachusetts coast. NOAA manages the nation’s fisheries, monitors and forecasts the weather, charts oceans, and helps protect coastal communities and infrastructure.

“These are American jobs that warn us about severe weather, protect our most vulnerable marine life like whales and turtles, ensure abundant fisheries, and maintain a healthy ocean for those whose livelihoods depend on it,” Beth Lowell, Oceana U.S. vice president, said in a statement.

“We’re calling on Congress to save NOAA from these disastrous cuts, while also protecting American jobs, communities, and the oceans,” Lowell added.

U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, said the country will “be worse off” due to the layoffs.

“People nationwide depend on NOAA for free, accurate forecasts, severe weather alerts, and emergency information,” Huffman said in a statement. “Purging the government of scientists, experts, and career civil servants and slashing fundamental programs will cost lives. My Democratic colleagues and I will keep fighting back in state and federal courts, in the halls of Congress, and the court of public opinion. This is a betrayal of the American people, and it will not stand.”

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the leading Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies — which has funding jurisdiction over the Department of Commerce, including NOAA — called these cuts “illegal.”

“As I made clear to Commerce Secretary Lutnick yesterday: this action is flatly illegal,” Van Hollen said in a statement. “Americans rely on NOAA to provide both day-to-day and emergency weather forecasting, and NOAA also supports our communities by conducting vital research into environmental threats, managing our nation’s fisheries, and more. I can guarantee we will be fighting this action in Congress and in the Courts.”

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