The recent radar upgrade to the nation’s weather radar system is a dramatic technology improvement that allows for a much more in-depth analysis of weather systems. User training for the new technology, called dual polarization, is being conducted by the NOAA National Weather Service Warning Decision Training Branch. The WDTB uses several interactive training methods such as live chats, Facebook applications, and their most successful approach, the Storm of the Month program

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Experts from across the country met up at the NOAA/National Weather Service Warning Decision Training Branch (WDTB) recently for a workshop on Quasi-Linear Convective Systems. They spent several days discussing how to design and implement effective training to improve the forecast and detection of the hazards associated with these storms. During the workshop, Congresswoman Mary Fallin toured the National Weather Center, including the WDTB Forecaster Development Lab.

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Paul Schlatter, WDTB meteorologist, co-authored a journal article about an unusual hailstorm in the August 2008 issue of the prestigious Monthly Weather Review. Additional authors are his father, Thomas W. Schlatter of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, and Charles A. Knight with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, both in Boulder, Colo.

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The WDTB has delivered five new courses to improve warning operations in National Weather Service Forecast Offices across the country. These courses are now available through the online learning center.

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Harald Richter, an educator and meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia visited WDTB recently to learn more about the NWS Weather Event Simulator. The training tool has proven useful for American forecasters since its development about five years ago.

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WDTB Instructors participated in several facets of Hazardous Weather Testbed operations from mid-April to early June that focused on three primary experiments: phased array radar, CASA radars and probabilistic warnings.

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The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded its prestigious Gold Medal to the Weather Event Simulator (WES) Concept and Development Team for its pioneering work in creating nationwide simulation training capabilities for NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters. The team was made up of members from the NWS Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Norman, Okla.; the Warning Decision Training Branch (WDTB), also located in Norman; and, the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS), at the University of Oklahoma.

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