Straight Talk:
Hurricane Smarts Needed

By General D.L. Johnson
NWS Director

As we watch the U.S. recover from Hurricane Dennis, we're reminded of the dangers to lives and property these storms bring each year.

But research shows that these reminders are still necessary. The Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc., of Washington, DC, interviewed 1,100 adults in Atlantic and Gulf coastal states and found that these residents lack sufficient knowledge of tropical storm dangers. Click here to read the report.

According to the report, when asked a 20-question test about hurricane-related facts and issues, the average participant only answered 8 correctly - with an overall average of 42 on a 100-point scale. Adults living within 10 miles of the coast did not score higher than those who lived inland. Both groups of adults averaged 8 correct answers out of 20. Those who had experienced a hurricane before only scored marginally higher than those who have not - averaging 9 correct answers and an overall average of 44 on a 100-point scale.

The report also states that of this group only 20% identified storm surge as the greatest threat land-falling hurricane, and only 15% knew that the majority of hurricane-related drownings occur inland. Little more than half of the adults polled (53%) said they have a plan if their home is threatened by a hurricane.

An annual Hurricane Awareness Week is not enough. Clearly, we have a lot of education and outreach work to do.

Back to Top

NOAA Administrator Addresses Floodplain Management Conference

The need for more partnerships in floodplain management was a key message delivered by Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.) Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, recently at the 29th Annual Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) Conference on June 12-17, 2005, in Madison, WI.

Nearly one thousand professionals, who work in the floodplains to mitigate the loss of life and property due to flooding, packed the auditorium to hear Lautenbacher's presentation during the session entitled "Federal Initiatives, Insights, and Inspirations for Flood Reduction."

"Admiral Lautenbacher's presentation was excellent as he stressed the need to develop more partnerships," stated Chad Berginnis, Chair of the ASFPM. "He is clearly a forward-thinking person."

Lautenbacher discussed the long-term goals of NOAA's hydrology program and the latest Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) news. He described some of NOAA's partnerships including one with the U.S. Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program Office to develop prototype user-requested graphics to better convey flood threats. He pointed out the advances in producing static and real-time inundation maps to better convey flood severity and threats.

The ASFPM is an organization of professionals concerned with floodplain management, flood hazard mitigation, the National Flood Insurance Program, and flood preparedness, warning, and recovery. It is the mission of the Association to mitigate the losses, costs and human suffering caused by flooding, and to promote wise use of the natural and beneficial functions of floodplains.

NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS), a strong advocate of the ASFPM, hosted a booth displaying real-time information. The booth was staffed by hydrologists Tom Dietrich and John Kuhn from the NWS Headquarters Hydrologic Services Division and by Mark Walton, Service Hydrologist at the Grand Rapids Weather Forecast Office. "We had a steady stream of visitors at the booth for two and a half days," stated Kuhn. "We fielded a wide range of hydrologic and meteorological questions."

Of particular interest from the throngs who passed the NWS exhibit was the new Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration approved "Turn Around, Don't Drown" incident road sign which was unveiled publicly for the first time. "The sign turned a lot of heads. It made people stop and ask questions," said Dietrich. "People recognized the significance of this new sign and wanted more information about how to produce and deploy it."

Lautenbacher took time to visit with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) booth staffed by Steve Blanchard, Robert Mason, and Chris Verdin. The USGS is a critical water resource partner providing most of the stream gauge data used by the NWS to produce the river and flood forecasts. NOAA's NWS enjoys a close and long-standing partnership with the USGS. In his presentation, "Reducing Tsunami and Flood Damages Through Science," Blanchard identified the NWS as a key partner in fighting floods through science.

Back to Top

National Digital Forecast Database Expands

By Wayne Presnell and Glenn Austin
NWS Digital Services

Two new experimental elements were added to the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) for the lower 48 states, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Guam the week of June 20, 2005. NWS also upgraded six experimental elements to operational status for Puerto Rico and Hawaii.

The initial operating capability of NDFD, released last year, included 12 forecast elements. The two new experimental elements, relative humidity and apparent temperature, are derived from the operational temperature and dew point and experimental wind forecasts. Relative humidity and apparent temperature gridded forecasts are available out to seven days.

This is the first expansion of NDFD. The elements were added in response to land management, emergency response, and public health officials who requested relative humidity, wind chill, and heat indices be added to the digital database.

Also on June 21, the following elements were upgraded from experimental to operational status for Puerto Rico and Hawaii: maximum temperature; temperature; minimum temperature; dew point; 12-hour probability of precipitation; and weather.

These six forecast elements are already operational for the lower 48 states and will be operational for Guam later this year. The remaining experimental grid elements are quantitative precipitation forecast; snow amount; significant wave height; sky cover; wind direction; and wind speed.

An ongoing NDFD assessment shows progress made toward improving these forecasts. An official decision is expected this fall on which of these elements will become operational next, and when. Meanwhile, NWS plans to add additional experimental weather parameters to NDFD in the near future. Check the NDFD web site for details on this evolving program: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ndfd.

Back to Top

Climate Services Division and NWS Eastern Region Develop Prototype for Web-Based Climate Outreach Toolkit

By Barbara Mayes
Climate Service Division

People looking for climate information in the NWS Eastern Region now have everything conveniently consolidated on one web page.

NOAA's Climate Services Division has collaborated with NWS Eastern Region Climate Team to develop a prototype for a web-based Climate Outreach Toolkit for all Internet users. The toolkit is part of a more comprehensive effort to create standardized national climate web resources. The prototype will be used as a model for other NWS regions and for a national climate outreach toolkit.

Eastern Region's Climate Outreach Toolkit debuted in April online at the Eastern Region web site http://www.erh.noaa.gov/outreachtoolkit. The toolkit is designed to educate and provide resources on climate related topics to the media, academia, and the public.

The Data and Forecast tab will be able to take web users to any local climate homepage in Eastern Region by just clicking the appropriate space in the map. When the new web standardization is completed, the map will link the user to the new climate products and services that will be available. There are five sections of the Climate Outreach Toolkit: Data and Forecasts, Program Info and Definitions, Science and Training, Publications and News, and Media Contacts, each providing links to a section of the site that contains information related to our climate understanding.

According to Joseph Calderone, co-leader of the Climate Outreach Toolkit team and forecaster at WFO Charleston, SC, "The Toolkit now makes it simpler for users of climate data to find most, if not all common climate information, definitions, articles, and contacts with a few clicks of the mouse. Users do not have to wade through many diverse web sites investing hours of their time searching for climate information."

"NOAA's NWS web site in Eastern Region is designed to answer most of the public's questions related to weather, water and climate-related events," said John Guiney, Chief, Meteorological Service Division, Eastern Region. "The Climate Outreach Toolkit makes available a wealth of climate data and information, in addition to providing access to climate experts from the national level and the local level. We were excited to partner with the Climate Services Division to create a prototype that can be used by other NWS regions and nationally to standardize NOAA/NWS climate information on the web."

The Climate Outreach Toolkit development team was headed by Calderone and Patti Wnek. Ron Holmes was the web page designer and developer, and other team members included: Harvey Thurm, Synoptic Scale Meteorologist from Eastern Region; Barbara Mayes, Meteorologist, Office of Climate, Weather, and Water Service, Climate Services Division; Victor Nouhan, Forecaster, Caribou, ME; Eric Seymour, Forecaster, Charleston, WV; Marcie Katcher, Public Affairs, Eastern Region; and Matt Noyes, Meteorologist, New England Cable News Network.

Back to Top

You Do the 'Crime,' You Get... an Award!

Approximately three times a year, Richard Jackson, Supply Technician and Mail Clerk at NWS Pacific Region, gets shot, arrested, handcuffed, and interrogated. Then he gets in his car and drives home!

Pacific Region Supply Technician, Richard Jackson, received certificates of appreciation for his volunteer work with the Honolulu Police Department and Hawaii CrimeStoppers. Photo by Delores Clark, Pacific Region Public Affairs Officer.

As a volunteer for simulated crime investigations by the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) training academy, Jackson was honored earlier this year for his undercover work. Jackson is one of several volunteers who act out crime scenes. HPD recruits must solve the simulated crimes or risk being terminated from the Academy. It is HPD policy that if the new recruits cannot solve the mock crime, it is too dangerous for them to be on patrol.

Jackson also volunteers for the CrimeStoppers Hotline, passing on phoned-in tips about crime to local law enforcement. His six years of volunteer efforts include writing stories for their Hawaii quarterly newspaper, Hawaii Crime Bulletin.

"This type of volunteer work is very important to me," said Jackson. "While it helps the community, it also gives me a sense of belonging and genuinely making a difference for others. The men and women of HPD and the recruits are caring and friendly. I have supported human rights and civil rights for all people, and sometimes I need to remind others that includes the rights of crime victims and police officers! As a person with handicaps, I try to help police recruits better understand how to respond to persons with disabilities in the community. Like NWS and NOAA, CrimeStoppers is wonderfully accommodating!"

Jackson is a past member of the NOAA Diversity Council and currently serves as a ten-year member of the governor-appointed Oahu Service Area Board on Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

Back to Top

Also On the Web...
Study Finds NEXRAD Helps Save Lives

Since the Doppler Weather Radar network began operating about 10 years ago, tornado casualties have been reduced by half and NWS tornado warnings have shown significant improvements, according to a recently released study of the impact of the NEXRAD network.

Researchers at two universities analyzed datasets of tornadoes that occurred in the United States between 1986 and 1999 to reach their findings. An analysis of tornado casualties revealed that the number of expected deaths and injuries were 45 percent and 40 percent lower on average once a forecast office began using NEXRAD radar.

Read the American Meteorological Society news release here.

Back to Top

Employee Milestones

• Click here to see NEW APPOINTMENTS/TRANSFERS to NWS through June 30, 2005.
• Click here to see RETIREMENTS/DEPARTURES from NWS through June 30, 2005.

Snapshots

Click here for a look at photos we've received from around the NWS.