Photo by Robert Coggins
Located in the heart of tornado alley, the NOAA organizations in Norman are united in their focus on severe weather. Co-location in Norman invigorates collaborations that lead to a rapid transfer of knowledge from research into technology, training and improved forecasts and warnings nationwide. NOAA organizations at the center include: OAR National Severe Storms Laboratory, NWS Storm Prediction Center, NWS Norman Forecast Office, NWS Warning Decision Training Branch, and the NWS Radar Operations Center. Pictured here are some of the approximately 400 employees of the five NOAA organizations posed in front of the new National Weather Center. NOAA occupies half of the 244,000-square-foot National Weather Center located on the University of Oklahoma campus. The building was officially dedicated in Sept. 2006.
Photo by Warren Keenan
Some of the NOAA Research leadership and management took a break during the annual OAR Management Conference held in July at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The conference brought together OAR senior staff, deputy laboratory and program directors, headquarters and field managers, with information technology, budget, finance, and administrative staff. This year's theme was "Collaboration." Pictured (from left): Mark Brown, Kevin Kelleher, Dianne Burgess, Capt. Wade Blake, Dr. Richard Spinrad, Craig McLean, Barry West, Joseph Klimavicz, Karen Kohanowich, Dr. Sandra Knight, Randee Exler, and Nancy Huang.