The lack of morning weather balloons launched across the western and central U.S. is having a real, tangible impact on degrading forecast quality. We can't look at weather balloon data that doesn't exist. We can't pump nonexistent data into models. We can't rely as heavily on models that don't "know" what's happening above our heads. Today's severe weather forecast is less certain because we don't have weather balloon data to confirm the strength of jet stream winds aloft. This is extremely frustrating, and is the result of logistical, organizational, political and budgetary decisions.