Spring Outlook Released: Drought Not Over

NWS released its Spring Outlook at a news conference on March 20, 2003. NOAA forecasters say they are increasingly confident that drought will linger in areas of the West and floods could possibly threaten portions of the South and East during the spring of 2003.

According to the Outlook, fall and winter precipitation patterns were not enough to alleviate the multi-year drought and serious water supply shortages over much of the Western United States. However, winter precipitation from El Niño helped wipe out abnormally dry conditions in the East.

For more information on the Spring Outlook, see the press release available on the NOAA Public Affairs site.

New Directives Available To Help Prepare Individual Development, Office Training Plans

Two new NWS directives recently completed by the Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services (OCWWS) Training Division provide instructions to help employees prepare their Individual Development Plans (IDPs) and help NWS offices with Office Training Plans (OTPs).

"The current NWS Strategic Plan set a goal for each NWS employee to have an Individual Development Plan (IDP) by the end of 2003," said Eli Jacks, Acting Chief of the OCWWS Training Division.

"Individual Development Planning," NWSPD 20-105, also provides guidance for managers on IDP oversight, and offers a link to the Department of Commerce IDP website for further guidance.

NWSPD 20-106 provides general guidance on the purpose of Office Training Plans and explains how offices should structure the plans. The instruction also includes an example of an OTP which has successfully been used.

"This guidance on IDPs and OTPs enables both individual employees and field office units to formally define training and professional development opportunities, as well as to make better use of available training to meet NWS performance goals," Jacks added.

Both the IDP and OTP Directives can be accessed on the web from the NWS Directives home page at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/directives under the Training and Education Series.

NWS Southern Region Launches New Online Teaching Tool in "JetStream"

Web links to materials contained in an educational and outreach project were recently placed on the National Weather Service Southern Region''s web page under the title JetStream.

JetStream is designed to provide comprehensive, easy-to-use online weather information to families, educators, emergency managers or anyone who is interested in learning more about the atmosphere and how it works. It also helps people better understand how to protect themselves and their families when hazardous weather threatens.

The information is illustrated and arranged by subject; beginning with global and large scale weather patterns followed by lessons on air masses, wind patterns, cloud formations, thunderstorms, lightning, hail, damaging winds, tornadoes, tropical storms, cyclones and flooding. The lessons also include current organization, career opportunities, links to universities with atmospheric science programs and a segment covering the NWS's 133 year history. Visitors may access the entire package or select from self-contained modules. Safety rules are also included to illustrate what to do and what not to do during thunderstorms, lightning strikes, tornadoes, hailstorms and other hazardous weather events.

Steven Cooper, Chief of the Southern Region Climate, Water, and Weather Division; Mike Vescio, Science and Operations Officer at the Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Fort Worth, TX; and Meteorologist Dennis Cain (also known as Professor Weather), also of WFO Fort Worth, teamed up to develop the materials in JetStream.

"We also hope to expand the site in the future, adding new or updated weather information on an ongoing basis," Cain said.

Although posted on the Southern Region website for only a few weeks, Cooper noted, "Many positive responses have already been received."

NOAA Home Page Among Top 100 Sites Chosen By PC Magazine

PC Magazine selected the NOAA home page as one of this year's "100 Top Undiscovered Web sites," citing it among sites "you didn't know you couldn't live without."

In its March 25 issue, PC Magazine says the NOAA home page is, "chock a block with articles and resources on the weather and our oceans." The NOAA home page is the only federal government Web site listed in the magazine's Top 100 Undiscovered Web sites of 2003.

Read more about the PC Magazine recognition on the NOAA home page.

Flexible Spending Account Open Season Planned for May

A May 2003 open season will give federal employees an opportunity to establish personal Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), which they can later tap to pay for the uncovered portions of qualified medical costs, or for dependent-care expenses. All employee contributions to FSAs are made from pre-tax earnings, but there are no government contributions to the program. See the OPM website for more details.

Also On the Web...Emergency Preparedness Guides

Managers and Employees can find Federal emergency preparedness guides at the Office of Personnel Management website. Click here to download Adobe Acrobat version's of the manager's guide and the employee's guide. The guides also are available as plain text files at this location. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has information on Assisting People with Disabilities in a Disaster and a more detailed Emergency Procedures for People with Disabilities.

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