Four of the nation’s six regional climate centers were thrust into a state of confusion last week when the Trump administration let their funding run out. After several days of crucial data going dark, weather monitoring hub officials tell NOTUS that they have been told they can continue operations.
The Commerce Department now intends to give the regional climate centers another year of funding, leaders of two of the affected centers said. The centers have been given a temporary spending authorization so that they can quickly return their systems online before those new funding contracts are signed, according to John Nielsen-Gammon, the director of the Southern Regional Climate Center.
As of Monday afternoon, all four of the centers’ data and tools had been restored to the internet.