Milei wants to slash the weather service. Can it function with 30% less staff?

In recent weeks, the state-run National Meteorological Service (SMN, by its Spanish acronym) has been threatened with massive cuts ordered by Deregulation and State Transformation Minister, Federico Sturzenegger. The government of Javier Milei had already eliminated 200 posts at the SMN as part of its plans to reduce the size of the state. A spokesperson described this new cut as the first of three stages in a process aimed at “modernizing the organization.” Sturzenegger argues that it is possible to lay off an additional 240 employees — 130 at meteorological stations across the country and 110 at headquarters — representing a 30% reduction in the agency’s civilian workforce. This has sparked a debate over the cost of a highly efficient public service that is not only key to industries like aviation and agriculture but also provides weather alerts for potentially damaging phenomena such as strong winds and heavy rainfall.  The State Workers Association (ATE) has warned that such a plan puts vital services at risk, such as early warning systems, flights, maritime and river navigation, and agricultural production. Bahía Blanca floods A concrete example of the weather service’s work was visible during the Bahía Blanca floods in 2025.  On March 17, 29 centimeters of rain fell in less than 12 hours — about half of the city’s average annual rainfall. Eighteen people died and more than 900 were evacuated.  The SMN began issuing early alerts several days before the rain began to fall. A yellow alert was issued two days earlier, followed by an orange alert, indicating a serious emergency with conditions considered dangerous to society, life, property, and the environment.  This prompted the city’s mayor to suspend school, a life-saving decision as many residents remained at home just as floodwaters began to rise across much of the city.  By then, the alert reached the red level, reserved for “exceptional weather events that can potentially cause disasters.” Neighbors and experts applauded the alert, which the SMN spread through its app and WhatsApp groups. However, then National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich criticized that the red alert should have been issued earlier.  According to a 2024 report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), countries with less comprehensive multi-hazard early warning systems have a disaster-related mortality rate nearly six times higher than those with substantial to comprehensive systems. The minister’s arguments On April 27, Sturzenegger posted a message on X attempting to justify the 30% staff cuts, prompting ATE to announce a 24-hour national SMN strike on Thursday that was later postponed. LA INCREIBLE HISTORIA DEL SERVICIO METEOROLÓGICO NACIONAL (SMN). La semana pasada hubo varias notas en medios sobre el SMN. Es una historia increíble que vale la pena contar. Te vas a sorprender (o no). Veamos.El SMN cuenta con unas 100 estaciones meteorológicas distribuidas a… pic.twitter.com/7QwbA12IOH— Fede Sturzenegger (@fedesturze) April 26, 2026 The minister’s arguments and data were soon fact-checked by Chequeado, a non-profit, non-partisan organization and digital media outlet dedicated to combating disinformation. Sturzenegger said the SMN operates around 100 meteorological stations nationwide and employs about 1,000 employees, of whom only about 20 are meteorologists. However, according to ATE-affiliated SMN workers, the agency employs 148 meteorologists and 472 meteorological observers (who completed a tertiary-level program). Meteorologist Mauricio Saldívar, former General Coordinator of the Hydrometeorological Early Warning System of the Buenos Aires City Government, explained to Chequeado that Sturzenegger’s figures are inaccurate and ATE’s are slightly exaggerated: “There aren’t just 20 meteorologists. At the country’s main airports there are between 6 and 8 meteorologists, and there are 8 airports of that kind. At the SMN there are more than 80.” Carla Gulizia, president of the Argentine Center of Meteorologists, added that observers are essential and range from trained technicians who meet WMO standards to professionals from other disciplines contributing to interdisciplinarity analysis. Automatization The minister also said that most stations are more than 50 years old and “consist of just a couple of very simple instruments,” overlooking technological updates carried out in 2019 and 2023, as pointed out by ATE and Chequeado. He said the funds saved from salaries could be used to modernize the stations “without the need for any personnel.”  However, he also acknowledged that “technological conversion cannot be done overnight” and that data series must overlap for a period to ensure proper calibration. Along the same lines, the ATE argues that automatic stations do not replace people, but rather complement them.  “Claiming that an automatic station replaces workers is technically incorrect,” they warned. The union stressed that these systems require installation, maintenance, calibration, and continuous monitoring; without these processes, the data may be inaccurate and affect forecasts. The recommendations of the World Meteorological Organization are consistent with this view: while automation has advantages, it also presents challenges, including the need for more specialized personnel for technical tasks, it warns.  The organization also estimates that automatic stations should operate alongside traditional systems for “one to two years” to ensure data comparability. An ATE delegate told the Herald that, “We cannot even imagine what would happen if SNM is left with only 150 people. There is nothing similar in the world. We are already missing data that is not being monitored and will affect statistics, for example night information that affects flights, investigations and weather forecasts.” Back in 2022, the then director of the SMN Celeste Saulo — who is currently the Secretary-General of the WMO — warned that Argentine needed a “substantial improvement” in its network of data-collection stations “with experts who continuously record and transmit basic information that is later used for forecasting”, in order to achieve higher-quality forecasts. “Today we have 125 data-collection points, and that is insufficient. Ideally, we should exceed 200,” she advised in statements to the local press.  Protests ATE responded to Sturzenegger’s message with a strongly worded statement and threatened a 24-hour protest. “He is blatantly lying. All the data and information used to try to justify the dismantling of the National Meteorological Service are false,” said union leader Rodolfo Aguiar, secretary general of ATE. 🟢 ATE responde a Sturzenegger con un paro el 30 en el Servicio Meteorológico Nacional y se complican nuevamente los vuelos🗣️“Miente descaradamente. Todos los datos e información para intentar justificar el vaciamiento del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional son falsos. Las…— Prensa ATE Nacional (@ateprensa) April 27, 2026 Aguiar said underfunding and lack of investment at the SMN have already caused more than half of the stations to stop operating at night, leaving gaps of 9 to 12 hours. “This government began the meteorological blackout on December 10, 2023,” he said, in reference to the day President Javier Milei took office, with promises of running a chainsaw through public spending to eliminate Argentina’s longstanding fiscal deficit. He added that SMN is a “highly complex structure comprising meteorologists, observers, instrumentation technicians, IT and data-processing specialists, among others. Stations combine automated systems with human observation, which remains indispensable worldwide,” he said. “We demand the continued employment of all SMN workers and go further. If the government truly wants to modernize the agency’s operations, it must immediately invest in more equipment, improve wages, and reinstate all those who were illegitimately dismissed. We cannot afford to lose a vital service for our country.”