Forecasters vented their frustration about the government shutdown with a discreet message that says ‘please pay us’ (Picture: National Weather Service website)

Stuck in a freezing and wet outpost in deepest Alaska, meteorologists gave a seemingly innocent weather forecast on their website.

But given that they work for the US government – which is currently shut down – they’re not being paid for their work.

As such, they found a covert way to warn bosses that they weren’t happy with the situation that’s rocked the global economy.

The first letter of each line in their forecast spells out ‘PLEASE PAY US’ – a secret message that was spotted by a fellow forecaster on the other side of the country.


After the acrostic in their Friday morning forecast was rumbled, the disgruntled employees released an updated version that covered their tracks. By that time, the image had already gone viral.

After their plea was rumbled, the forecasters updated their predictions and changed the wording slightly (Picture: National Weather Service)

The forecasters were working for the National Weather Service Forecast Office. They are a small handful of the hundreds of thousands of government workers who have been kept on in their roles without pay. As a series of tropical storms rage through the US, they are seen as vital to public safety.



Republicans and Democrats are currently at a stalemate over the country’s budget in Congress. Whereas some Republicans want the Affordable Healthcare Act – known as Obamacare – to be delayed for a year, the Democrats are refusing to concede.

Given how the meteorologists got rumbled so quickly, maybe they should stick to the weather forecasting from now on.