An unusually long and widespread communications outage hampered the National Weather Service as deadly severe thunderstorms swept across the Midwest and Ohio Valley Tuesday evening.
The outage is further evidence that the agency, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, faces long-term IT infrastructure challenges.
The outage significantly delayed severe thunderstorm, flash flood, and tornado warnings from reaching the public, with the exception of NOAA Weather Radio, the NWS said.
The root cause of the problem, which lasted from 6:00 p.m. ET to 7:14 p.m. ET, was a software upgrade to a key computer system called AWIPS that forecasters use to monitor weather conditions and issue surveillance and warnings, according to people familiar with the matter.
This software system is outdated and the NWS is working to update and replace it with a new cloud-based architecture by 2028, officials said. They were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue.
Forecasters at multiple local forecast stations in states affected by the devastating storm, including Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, were left scrambling to issue warnings through news outlets and social media platforms after meteorologists realized that warnings sent out through AWIPS were not being received in a timely manner.
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In some cases, there was a delay of more than 20 minutes between when a warning was issued and when it appeared on weather apps, TV station graphics systems, text or radio alerts, or other means.
The national average lead time for a tornado warning is just 13 minutes from the time the warning is issued until the tornado arrives or moves into the warning area.
As the NWS communications infrastructure ages, communication failures have become a consistent challenge. But Tuesday night’s troubles were notable for their unusual length and scope, affecting offices across the country.
“All NWS offices are currently issuing forecasts and warnings without delay as usual,” National Weather Service spokesman John Ewald said in a statement to CNN Tuesday night.
“During today (6:00 p.m. to 7:14 p.m. ET), an internal software issue delayed the product’s public release. An alert was received by NOAA Weather Radio, but all other dissemination channels were affected,” he said. “We will continue to investigate the root cause of the delay to prevent the issue from happening again. As always, NWS advises everyone to have multiple ways to receive critical alerts when the time is right.”
NWS is currently hiring after last year’s DOGE-related layoffs, but it is not expected to return to pre-Trump administration levels. Many of the most experienced forecasters and technicians have retired within the past year due to an incentive program offered to veteran employees retiring from the civil service.
This was part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.
