Contact:  Patrick Slattery
                    
Sept. 15, 1998
          

                         MEDIA ADVISORY

   Interagency Survey Team Releases Report on Spencer Tornado

At noon today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its assessment of services provided by the National Weather Service during the May 30, 1998, tornado that devastated Spencer, S.D. The report, which contains a summary of actions taken by the Sioux Falls forecast office leading up to the event, is located on the Internet at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/omdis.htm

The report notes that, despite the tremendous devastation wreaked by the tornado, the forecast staff at Sioux Falls did an excellent job of alerting media and the public to severe weather conditions in the area preceding the storm. Based on statements by emergency managers, law enforcement and the media, the report states, the Sioux Falls Weather Service staff merited accolades in providing forecasts and warnings.

"The National Weather Service is committed to providing the best possible severe weather warnings for getting vital information to the public, and the Sioux Falls office obviously did (and does) an excellent job of that," Assessment Team Leader Dennis McCarthy, meteorologist in charge of the Norman, Okla., forecast office, said. "All the assessment team members were impressed with the confidence and trust in the Sioux Falls Weather Service office expressed by emergency management and media. Though there were some minor technical glitches found, there was basically unanimous agreement that the Weather Service did an excellent job in this situation."