Contact: Barry Reichenbaugh FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Stephanie Kenitzer 7/5/95
(301) 713-0622
The Commerce Department today announced the transfer of tailored weather services from the National Weather Service to the private meteorological sector, effective Oct. 1, as part of the Clinton administration's proposed federal budget reductions in fiscal 1996.
The transfer, an administration initiative aimed at reinventing government to make it more efficient and more responsive to the public, will save an estimated $3.3 million in governmental expenditure.
A notice concerning the transfer of these specific products and services appears in the July 5, 1995 edition of the Federal Register.
Services to be transferred are agricultural weather, fire weather services to non-federal agencies for non-wildfire activities, distribution of weather charts to marine radiofacsimile broadcast stations and the National Weather Summary.
"The transfer of these programs will not in any way endanger the general public," said NWS Director Elbert W. Friday Jr. "The National Weather Service will continue to issue weather and flood warnings, public forecasts and severe weather advisories for all of the United States for the protection of life and property."
Under the Administration's proposal, all agricultural weather services and the fruit frost program will be transferred to the private sector. These weather services provide forecasts and warnings for specific users and targeted regions. Seven NWS offices providing these services will close. These offices are located in College Station, Texas; Stoneville, Miss.; Auburn, Ala.; West Lafayette, Ind.; Yuma, Ariz.; Twin Falls, Idaho; and Riverside, Calif. Fruit frost operations at the Tampa Bay, Fla., and Brownsville, Texas, offices also will be discontinued. The NWS will continue issuing frost and freeze warnings that are of value to the general public as well as to the agricultural community.
The NWS will continue to provide meteorological support directly related to all wildfire suppression. However, fire weather services for non-wildfire activities by non-federal agencies will be transferred. This includes specialized forecasts for controlled burns and non-wildfire forest management activities. Four offices that provide fire weather services will close, including offices in Olympia and Wenatchee, Wash.; Salem, Ore.; and Riverside, Calif. Fire weather operations in Redding, Calif., will cease and fire weather positions will be eliminated at offices in Billings, Mont.; Denver, Colo.; and Anchorage, Alaska.
Currently, the NWS issues marine weather charts and transmits them to six marine radio stations for scheduled broadcasts via radiofacsimile. This program also will be turned over to the private sector as of Oct. 1, 1995. The weather service will continue creating the marine weather charts in conjunction with U.S. obligations under the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea.
Private sector vendors may access the charts from the National Weather Service at no cost to taxpayers and distribute them to the maritime community via radiofacsimile broadcast or other methods. Civilians may be able to access U.S. Navy broadcasts of weather charts over open radio frequencies originating from Cutler, Maine; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Guam.
Finally, the NWS's Storm Prediction Center in Kansas City, Mo., will cease production of the National Weather Summary. The summary describes weather events such as tornadoes and floods that occurred during the previous 12 hours. Newspaper and television meteorologists use the summary to write weather news stories or to highlight weather events. Several private companies already provide a similar product for their clients including newspapers, radio and television stations.
Since World War II, the private meteorology industry has grown with current estimated annual revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Today, private meteorological firms provide specialized weather forecast services to the media, airlines, and insurance companies, as well as to agricultural interests.
"The evolution of the partnership between the weather service and the private weather industry has come a long way in the past 50 years," said Friday. "We feel confident that private meteorologists can successfully manage these four additional programs being transferred to them, ensuring that the nation receives the full benefit of available weather information from both the weather service and the private sector."
To ensure a smooth transfer of these products and services, the National Weather Service's Office of Industrial Meteorology has developed a comprehensive transition plan and published a Directory of U.S. Private Weather Services, available by writing to NOAA/National Weather Service, Office of Industrial Meteorology (W/IM), 1325 East-West Highway, Room 18462, Silver Spring, Md. 20910.