More layoffs have hit the federal government, this time at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States’s main weather forecaster and the world’s premier research agency for the seas and the skies.

CBS News reports that 880 employees were cut across NOAA, about 7 percent of the workforce, including earth scientists, meteorologists, computer modelers, and space weather forecasters. It’s already causing some functions — like weather balloon launches that provide raw data for weather models — to shut down.

I have confirmed that weather balloon launches for western Alaska have been halted due to the firings today.
For a little background, weather balloons are launched normally twice per day, more during a severe day, and we get most of our raw data from these launches. pic.twitter.com/XPq4qH0UDu

What these employees had in common was that they were on probation. This is not a form of punishment but rather a quirk of the federal hiring system.

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