Contact: Barry Reichenbaugh,                    7/7/98
         NWS Headquarters
         Edward H. Young, Jr. 
         NWS Pacific Region Headquarters
         Tom Tarlton,
         NWS Tiyan


                           Media Advisory
                                  
                  National Weather Service Releases
              Service Assessment for Super Typhoon Paka
An assessment of services provided by the National Weather Service during Super Typhoon Paka Dec. 2-21, 1997, for the U.S.-affiliated islands in Micronesia and the Mariana Islands has been completed and is available on the Web at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/pr/hq/paka.htm

A National Weather Service team of experts both from within and outside the government analyzed the overall warning process and services provided by the NWS to the territorial government of Guam, the government of the Marshall Islands, and the citizens of Micronesia, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The assessment found that the advisories issued by the Tiyan National Weather Service Office were timely, which enabled Guam to be well prepared for Paka. As a result, there was no loss of life associated with the storm. When the NWS office lost backup power, Honolulu successfully implemented backup procedures and took over forecast operations and warning communications for the Tiyan office.

The assessment team's survey of NWS customers found that they were satisfied with the performance of this new NWS forecast office. The report outlines a number of recommendations that the NWS is implementing to further improve and maintain services during typhoons and other severe weather.