NOAAs National Weather Service

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NOAAsNational Weather Service

• Serving the Nations
• Environmental Forecasting Needs

NWS 101 Presentation
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Weather Impacts on Society
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NWS Mission
"The National Weather Service (NWS) provides
weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and
warnings for the United States, its
territories,
adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the
protection of life and property and the
enhancement of the national economy. NWS
data and products form a national
information
database and infrastructure which can be
used
by other governmental agencies, the
private
sector, the public, and the global
community."
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NOAAs National Weather Service

• A Typical Year Brings
• 6 Atlantic Hurricanes
• 1,270 Tornadoes
• 5,000 Floods
• 10,000 Violent Thunderstorms
• Severe Winter Storms
• Drought and Large Wildfires
• Excessive Heat Episodes
• 600 Deaths 5,000 Injuries 14 Billion in Losses

• Provide climate, water, weather forecasts and
  warnings to protect life and property and enhance
  the economy
• 76 billion observations
• 1.5 million forecasts
• 50,000 warnings

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Overview of NWS Operations
Observe
Respond Feedback
Distribute
Products Services
Process
Feedback
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NWS Organizational Structure
Office of the Assistant Administrator For Weather
Services
Strategic Planningand Policy
Eastern Region
Central Region
Southern Region
Western Region
Alaska Region
Pacific Region
National Centers for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP)
EEO/Diversity
23 WFOs
38 WFOs
32 WFOs
24 WFOs
3 WFOs
2 WFOs
InternationalActivities
Environmental Modeling Center
Hydro- meteorological Prediction Center
1 RFC
3 RFCs
2 RFCs
4 RFCs
3 RFCs
6 WSOs
Communications Office
4 CWSUs
5 CWSUs
7 CWSUs
4 CWSUs
1 CWSU
12 WSOs
1 WSO
2 WSOs
Storm Prediction Center
Tropical Prediction Center (National
Hurricane Center)
Office of theChief InformationOfficer
Office of Climate, Water, Weather Services
Office of Operational Systems
Office of Science Technology
Office of Hydrologic Development
Office of theChief Financial Officer
Ocean Prediction Center
Central Operations
Climate Prediction Center
Field Systems Operations Center
Telecommunications Operations Center
Hydrologic Services Division
Programs andPlans Division
Planning,Programming Coordination Group
Aviation Weather Center
Space Weather PredictionCenter
Climate Services Division
Radar Operations Center
Meteorological Development Laboratory
Hydrology Laboratory
Operations and Requirements Division
Systems Engineering Center
National Data Buoy Center
Observing Services Division
Maintenance,Logistics, andAcquisition Division

• 4,900 NWS Employees
• 122 Weather Forecast Offices
• 13 River Forecast Centers
• 21 Center Weather Service Units
• 21 Weather Service Offices
• 2 Tsunami Warning Centers
• 9 NCEP Centers
• 6 Regional Headquarters

Meteorological Services Division
Performance and Awareness Division
Training Division
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NWS Overview Facilities
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NWS OverviewWeather Forecast Offices (WFOs)

• Issue all Local Forecastsand Warnings
• Build and Maintain RelationshipsWith Local and
  State Governments
• Provide Expert Advice toEmergency Operations
  Centers
• Solicit Customer Feedback on Products and
  Services
• Conduct Community Awareness and Education
  Programs
• Train Volunteer Observers and Storm Spotters

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NWS OverviewRiver Forecast Centers (RFCs)

• Issue river, reservoir and flood forecasts based
  on computer models
• Provide forecast guidance to Weather Forecast
  Offices (WFOs)
• Work with water managers

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NWS OverviewNational Centers
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Where Were Headed

• Data, Products, and Services to
• Greatly reduce loss of life and injury
• Enable communities to mitigate property loss well
  in advance of threatening conditions
• Alert economic sectorsto environmental
  riskswith sufficient lead timeto limit or avoid
  impacts

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Where Were Headed

• Integrated Surface Observing System (ISOS)
• ASOS
• Cooperative Observers (COOP)
• COOP-Modernization
• National Mesonet

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Where Were Headed

• Severe Weather
• Warn-On Forecasts Tornado warning lead time
  increases from an average of 13 minutes today to
  as much as 1 hour
• Severe Thunderstorm Warning lead time increases
  from an average of 18 minutes to as much as 2
  hours

• Enables Emergency Managers to energize community
  response
• Lives saved and millions in savings

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Where Were Headed

• Tropical Cyclone Services
• Warning lead time for landfall increases from
  less than 24 hours to 3 days
• 50 reduction in intensity error
• 50 reduction in track error

• Saves lives/enhances public safety
• Improves response capability of emergency
  managers
• Mitigates property loss
• Economic impact increasingly complex (coastal
  development.)

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Where Were Headed

• Aviation Weather Services
• Aviation forecasts to exceed 80 accuracy
• New metric with FAA to determine weather impact
  on operations
• Weather support for Next Generation Air
  Transportation System
• New Weather Information Database

• FAA REDAC report indicates 2/3 of NAS weather
  delays Preventable10 reduction translates to
  savings of 600M/year
• Reduce general aviation weather-related
  fatalities by 25

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Where Were Headed

• Space Weather Services
• Seamless integration of space weather into our
  suite of products and services
• Meeting new space weather service needs of
  fast-growing customer base

• Building hazard-resilient communities is
  NOAA-wide priority
• High-tech communities should be hazard resilient
  as well

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Where Were Headed

• Winter Weather Services
• Improved global and regional models
• Increased use of ensembles for forecast
  uncertainty and storm potential
• New Impact-based products
• Storm-Based Winter Weather Warnings

• Warning lead time for major winter storms days in
  advance
• Billions in Savings
• Improve Transportation Safety

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Where Were Headed

• Climate Services
• Climate information demands increasing
• High quality observations
• Improved seasonal to inter-annual prediction
• Downscaled products and services to regionaland
  local levels
• Entire Weather and Climate Enterprise must work
  together to meet these challenges
• NWS committed to doing our part

• Improve Preparation for and Response to Heat
  Waves, Drought, Coastal Inundation, and Other
  Phenomena
• Relevant and Reliable Climate Data Will Stimulate
  Private Development of Technologies and
  Applications

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Where Were Headed

• Water Resource Services
• Provide high-resolution water quantity, quality,
  and soil moisture forecasts
• Emergency and resource managers mitigate losses
  for conditions ranging from droughts to floods

• Enables NOAA to meet our Nation's growing needs
  for water forecasts
• Provides forecasts for consumption resources
• Provides important resource protection
  capabilities

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Where Were Headed

• Ecosystem Impact Information
• Provide forecasts of weather, water, and climate
  impacts for management decisions
• Management decisions reflect relationships among
  humans, nonhuman species, and the environments in
  which they live

• Benefits through innovative approaches to spill
  preparedness, incident response, fire support,
  damage assessments and restoration
• NOAA contributes approximately 75 million annual
  to the U.S. economy

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Where Were Headed

• Forecast Uncertainty Information
• Integral and essential part of all forecasts
• Enterprise-wide partnership to generate and
  communicate forecast uncertainty to decision
  makers and public
• Expressed in terms of probabilities

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The Future Integrated Environmental Awareness
Saving Lives Through Partnerships
NOAA TEAM
END USERS
PARTNERS
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