SOUTH DAKOTA ( South Dakota News Watch ) - South Dakota’s three National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offices are short of staff and sending up fewer weather balloons that gather important data in response to federal budget cuts and a hiring freeze, as tornado and thunderstorm season ramps up.

The NWS, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), has 122 Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) throughout the United States. Forecasting offices around the country are feeling the effects of federal cuts and hiring freezes, according to The Associated Press .

South Dakota’s three WFOs in Aberdeen, Rapid City and Sioux Falls cover 90 counties in five states.

Fifty-five of the WFOs nationwide have a job vacancy rate of more than 20%, according to the AP data, which was acc

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