I am not part of either the public or private weather enterprise, so this post should be viewed only as questioning and seeking to learn... but isn't SPC a fantastic example of the successful centralization of forecasting? Yes, I realize they do not issue warnings, but I don't think that invalidates the comparison.
Also, many of the private weather forecasting companies focus on offering hyper-local forecasts, and to my knowledge they don't do it by having office locations all over the country...
Anything that involves change and the potential loss of jobs is disconcerting to those in the field and likely to be affected by it. I certainly understand that. But if looked at objectively and unemotionally, might opinions about this be more favorable?
I find the idea of having a local NWSFO comforting in a nostalgic sense but, like the demise of the local hardware store in favor of the more distant Home Depot, I think this sort of thing is inevitable. It is similar to the move in business to the use of shared service centers for back-office and corporate functions.
Having said that, I still think there can be plenty of opportunities in meteorology despite NWP, just like there is still a huge demand for accountants despite automation in that field (which happens to be my field, so I can speak from experience on this point...) The roles and jobs have evolved, but they are still there...
