BUFFALO, N.Y. — About a week ago we got a very strong reminder of just how quickly the weather can change here in Western New York with that EF-1 tornado that touched down in Buffalo, not far from our news station.
So with that in mind, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and a ranking Commerce Department official also touched down Tuesday at the Buffalo National Weather Service office.
2 On Your Side looked at the financial and political purposes of their visit.
It's hard to forget the December 2022 Blizzard or what happened Monday, August 5th with that tornado packing 90-mile-per-hour winds on Buffalo's West Side.
Even the Buffalo National Weather Service meteorologists admitted to 2 on Your Side that it happened so fast that they didn't really see it coming.
So to help with even more effective future forecasting Senator Chuck Schumer suggests a financial boost from Congress "I am as Majority Leader gonna work hard to put $30 Million in the new budget that's coming up to increase the Mesonet system here in New York."
The New York Mesonet System was unveiled after Hurricane Sandy by former Governor Cuomo for $23 Million in 2016. It is made up of 127 statewide highly localized weather monitoring stations and that includes three in Erie County. They are tied into an Albany control center which Governor Hochul actually showed off to NBC's Today Show.
After some previous access issues, it is now coordinated with the National Weather Service according to Dr. Michael Morgan who is the U.S. Commerce Department Assistant Secretary for Environmental Observation and Prediction. "The Mesonet data that's taken not only from New York's state Mesonet but other mesonets across the country are incorporated into our analyses, into our predictions. They help as the Senator mentioned to improve our situational awareness."
Then Senator Schumer used the opportunity to bring up Project 2025, which Democrats say conservative Republicans in a Trump White House would use as a game-plan to dismantle and privatize the fore-casting work of the National Weather Service and its parent agency - the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
I specifically asked Schumer if former President Trump ever specifically suggested that proposal... "The word was that he was supportive of Project 2025 before all of it came out and there was such public opprobrium. So I would regard...I would take seriously anything in that project should he become President."