Southern California residents trying to check rain forecasts and radar imagery Friday could encounter outdated or unavailable information as the National Weather Service reported nationwide internet and communications problems.
“The NWS has been experiencing nation-wide internet and communications issues,” the agency said in a notice. “You may not be able to access products on our webpages, or these products will be old.”
The Weather Service said technicians were working to resolve the disruption and that local offices, including the Los Angeles/Oxnard office, continued to issue watches, warnings and forecasts. Those products remain available through some external websites, the agency said.
The outage came as the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday afternoon because of a communications issue affecting the regional air traffic control centers that direct aircraft between airports.
The ground stop halted departures at airports nationwide, while planes already in flight were allowed to continue to their destinations.
It was not immediately clear whether the FAA and National Weather Service disruptions were related.
Travelers were urged to check directly with their airlines for flight-status information. The Weather Service directed users to its official social media accounts for updates while its websites are affected.