NWS Inaugurates a New Directives System

Over the next year, the NWS Directives System (NDS) will replace the Weather Service Operations Manual (WSOM) as the mechanism to communicate NWS policy. "The current WSOM system is aged, with one WSOM chapter dating back to 1967! The WSOM chapters combine high-level policies with detailed procedures, and coordination of chapters is time-consuming and ill-defined," said Jim Lee from the Office of Services. Lee believes, "This hampers the NWS from quickly making policy changes and implementing them into operations in a timely, efficient manner."

The new directives system consists of policy directives, procedural directives, and supplements to procedural directives. The NDS will be:

• An efficient and effective means to develop NWS policy
• Written in clear and easily understandable terms
• Easily accessible via the internet

According to Lee, "In the NDS, policies and procedures are separated. The directives will be reviewed annually, which will ensure that they are up-to-date."

Three separate training sessions were held at NWS Headquarters in November 2001. Each training session included an overview of the NDS and an executive writing course led by instructors from the United States Air Force Academy. Briefing slides from the training are available at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/wsom/directives/training.htm.

The Management and Organization Division of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO3) is responsible for managing and providing guidance on the new NDS.

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NOAA Teams Coordinating Homeland Security Support and Planning

NOAA has established a Homeland Security Council to coordinate support to Homeland Security efforts. Leading the NOAA Homeland Security effort are Ted Lillestolen of the National Ocean Service and Craig O'Conner of the NOAA Office of General Counsel. The NOAA Homeland Security Council has sub teams focusing on capabilities, continuity of operations, infrastructure, and information technology. NWS representatives include: Greg Mandt, Co-Chair, Continuity of Operations Team; Bob McLeod, capabilities team; Don Wernly, continuity of operations plans team; Mark Brown, infrastructure team, and Barbara Brenkworth, information technology team.

• The Capabilities Team is developing a web site and database of NOAA capabilities supporting Homeland Security. An NWS capabilities matrix will be expanded and placed in this database.
• The Continuity of Operations Team is developing a plan for maintaining critical NOAA functions. Continuity of Operations Plans (COOPs) must be created for each facility since each plan is building dependent. The COOP team is expected to complete a Continuity of Operations Plan for the Department of Commerce's Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, DC, and the Silver Spring (MD) Metro Center Complex by the end of December. Once these are accomplished, efforts will focus on developing Continuity of Operations Plans for all other NOAA facilities. The COOP for the Silver Spring Complex will serve as the example for the other facilities. "Weather Service Operations Manual Chapter J-05 outlines service backup and should assist in the development of our various Continuity of Operations Plans," said Don Wernly, chief, Performance and Awareness Division, NWS Office of Climate, Water and Weather Services. "However, each facility needs a COOP. For example, if Weather Forecast Office Amarillo cannot function for 60 days due to hazardous material contamination, where will the staff go and what will they do? This information is not included in J-05." Wernly said the same issues must be addressed for regional offices and national centers.
• The Infrastructure Team is developing plans for the safety and security of people, facilities, and equipment. "Again, this must be done by facility," Wernly said. "Many NOAA buildings contain personnel for more than one line office. Evacuation plans should be developed and tested for each building, not by each line office contingent in a building."
• In late November, the NOAA Homeland Security Council agreed to create an Information Technology (IT) Team. This was done because IT cross cuts all teams. The new IT team includes members from each of the other teams to ensure a true cross cut without duplication.

For more information see on NOAA Homeland Security efforts, see http://www.legislative.noaa.gov/gudessum101101.html and http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/magazine/stories/mag2.htm

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More than one million spectators, thousands of athletes, officials and local residents will converge on Utah's Wasatch Front mountains and the greater Salt Lake City area for 2002 Winter Olympics events in February. Keeping the population aware of rapidly changing weather conditions is a challenge that falls to a partnership of weather forecasters from the NWS, the private sector, and academic community.

"We want everyone to be 'weather-wise and weather-safe' during the Games. The forecasters' job will be very important to ensure people coming to Utah will be prepared for winter weather conditions that can change in a short period of time," said Vickie Nadolski, NWS Western Region Director.

The Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the games announced the partnership between the NWS, the University of Utah, and thirteen private meteorologists under contract to KSL-TV on April 5, 2001, and set the stage for advancing meteorology in the region. The 50 member team has over 700 years of combined Utah meteorology experience,

NWS will provide the baseline meteorological information through routine NWS products and services for public safety, emergency operations, traffic, security, aviation, and avalanche control. The NWS Forecast Office in Salt Lake City will also issue a special Hazardous Weather Potential Outlook twice per day, and provide historical climate data for venues and cities. Customers relying on our forecasts include those responsible for ground and air transportation and as well as medical emergency responders.

Streamlining the flow of weather data to the team, NOAA's Forecast Systems Laboratory, in Boulder, CO, developed a PC-based weather display system called FX-Net. FX-Net provides access to current weather and forecast information at outdoor venues for use by KSL forecasters. The communication network ensures all forecasters have access to the same weather information as they provide their critical forecasts for the Games.

Mark Eubank, head meteorologist at KSL-TV Channel 5 in Salt Lake City, leads a team of 13 private meteorologists and will provide official weather forecasts at the five outdoor venues: Soldier Hollow, Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley Resort, Utah Winter Sports Park and Snowbasin Ski Area. Chosen by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, they are also under contract to provide the weather forecasts for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and the daily weather briefings for the organizing committees and official media.

Faculty and students at the University of Utah Department of Meteorology are maintaining 27 weather sensors at the five outdoor venue sites and other key locations throughout northern Utah. The university will run high resolution (1-Km.) analysis models every hour for Northern Utah and high resolution (4-Km.) computer forecast models four times a day. They have provided training to about 25 volunteer students and others who will make official Olympic weather observations at the outdoor venues and maintain weather databases and software at the University.

The core to the weather observations for the 2002 Winter Olympics is called MesoWest. It encompasses nearly 3,000 weather stations in the Western U.S. from more than 70 participating organizations. Data from Road Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming also contributes to the vast array of up-to-the-minute observations. The data will be processed and quality controlled at the University of Utah. Graphical products will be generated every 15 minutes and provided to the Weather Support Group as well as Games officials, media and the public from the Weather Support Group partners' web pages.

The official 2002 Olympic Winter Games' Weather Operations Center (WOC) will be located at the NWS' Salt Lake City forecast office where the meteorologists will jointly prepare daily forecasts ensuring consistent information is made available to all decision makers. Media interviews will also be conducted from this location.

For more information about the Weather Support Group activities during the Winter Games, keep an eye on the following sites:

• NWS, http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake
• University of Utah Department of Meteorology, http://www.met.utah.edu
• KSL-TV, http://www.ksl.com/TV, and
• The Official Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games Site, http://www.saltlake2002.com.

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Five Weather Forecast Offices begin testing a new voice for NOAA Weather Radio this month. Each WFO will fine tune the voice to ensure that all words and geographical place names for that area are understandable. The five forecast office test sites are: WFO Mt. Holly, NJ; WFO Melbourne, FL; WFO Des Moines, IA; WFO Portland, OR; and WFO Peachtree City, GA.

The new male and female voices were selected after an extensive evaluation of computer speech programs and a survey of public and constituent comments. NOAA Public Affairs will issue a national news release early next week to announce the planned testing.

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Also On the Web...

Five Weather Forecast Offices begin testing a new voice for NOAA Weather Radio this month. Each WFO will fine tune the voice to ensure that all words and geographical place names for that area are understandable. The five forecast office test sites are: WFO Mt. Holly, NJ; WFO Melbourne, FL; WFO Des Moines, IA; WFO Portland, OR; and WFO Peachtree City, GA.

The new male and female voices were selected after an extensive evaluation of computer speech programs and a survey of public and constituent comments. NOAA Public Affairs will issue a national news release early next week to announce the planned testing.

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