A federal judge in California ruled late Thursday President Trump and Elon Musk’s mass firings of probationary government employees were illegal, siding with a coalition of labor unions and nonprofit groups.

Hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees on probationary status were fired Thursday, lawmakers and weather experts said, as billionaire Elon Musk aims to shrink a federal workforce that President Donald Trump has called bloated and sloppy.

The story below, published on February 21 before the announcement, explains how the Trump administration has been preparing to cut staffing at NOAA and what that means for weather forecasting and climate research.

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Hundreds of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employees, including weather forecasters, have had their jobs terminated, according to lawmakers and weather experts.Remaining federal workers reported that the layoffs included meteorologists vital to local forecasting at National Weather Service offices nationwide.

Hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees on probationary status were fired

Elon Musk threatened to fire even more federal workers if they did not respond to his email demanding a list of five tasks completed.

NOAA — which includes the National Hurricane Center and the Tsunami Warning Center — is the latest in a string of federal agencies targeted for cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.