National Weather Service Operations in Riverton Not Affected By Shutdown

The National Weather Service says the partial shutdown of the federal government will not affect operations at the agency’s office in Riverton.

Chris Jones, a National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist based out of Riverton, says the organization remains one of the few National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agencies not affected by the shutdown.

Jones says all 122 local weather forecast offices operated by the National Weather Service will remain staffed and active.

“Our job is to remain on the job,” Jones said. “Congress expects that of us, and, I think, the American people do as well because of our basis in life and property protection. As we saw last week with the winter storm that hit, that’s why we’re still here.”

The Department of Commerce, which oversees NOAA and National Weather Service operations, suspended most research activities not immediately related to weather forecasting and climate observation when the government shut down on Tuesday.

Jones says the National Weather Service’s website will stay active during the shutdown. Several other NOAA websites, however, have been unavailable since Tuesday.