National Weather Service Outage Falsely Reported Amid FAA Nationwide Grounding

After the U.S. National Weather Service was reported to be experiencing nationwide internet and communications outages across the country, the NWS is stepping in to set the record straight.

In a post shared to X on Friday, November 13, the National Weather Service clarified that news of the outages was falsely reported by CNN, Reuters and other nationwide outlets, and that there are no current issues with their website.

“In case you heard otherwise, there is no radar outage and https://radar.weather.gov is fully operational!” the tweet read. “Outdated content from isolated webpages stating otherwise has been circulating, but NWS radars are operating normally.”

The false reporting comes amid nationwide panic after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights across the country Friday.

In an advisory issued on X, the FAA announced it was halting departing flights at airports across the United States due to a communication issue affecting the nation’s air traffic control system.

Per a report from CNN, which obtained the full advisory, the FAA confirmed the disruption is affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, which oversee aircraft traveling through large portions of U.S. airspace. Technicians have been working to investigate the issue, with the agency promising updates as more information becomes available.

According to the advisory, which was issued by the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center, the ground stop took effect at 2:54 p.m. Central Time, with an estimated end time of 10 p.m. Central Time, though the advisory notes that it is in place until “further notice.”

“Due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” the advisory states, per CNN, “all airports are ground stopped.”

While little is yet known about the exact circumstances surrounding the FAA’s advisory, according to CNN, the outage initially halted flights at Chicago’s Midway and O’Hare airports before turning into a nationwide issue. Law enforcement officials told the outlet that, although information is still coming in, preliminary reports did not point to a cyberattack. CNN also reported that President Donald Trump has been briefed on the matter

While Trump, 80, has yet to release a statement, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin did speak to reporters outside the White House following the FAA disruption, and clarified that there was no indication of a “nefarious attack,” reiterating that as of now, a telecommunications outage is to blame.

“As I want to make sure we say this again, there’s no reason for the public to be afraid or scared for your loved ones,” Mullin, 49, said, per NBC5 Chicago. “This isn’t another 9/11. I just can’t repeat that enough…This is a telecommunication outage. This is much different.”

“Everybody’s safe,” he stressed. “There is no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they’re flying or anything like that. I just want to make sure everybody’s at ease about that. As we investigate what caused this, you always got to assume that as many cyberattacks that take place, that you make that assumption. So, but as of right now, that’s not known.”

The FAA has not confirmed when flights will be allowed to resume, adding that international flights arriving in the United States will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Per CNN, at least 11,000 flights and 1.5 million passengers were scheduled to depart before the grounding, with 600 different flights diverted, the vast majority of which were returned to their airport of origin.