A Picture Worth A Thousand Words in Melbourne, FL

The Melbourne, FL, Weather Forecast Office (WFO) is taking graphical weather products to a new level. Starting in the spring of 1999, the office began producing and posting on its web page a Graphical Hazardous Weather Outlook every morning for its users. The daily outlook depicts levels of threat for a comprehensive range of weather hazards, including thunderstorms, flooding, coastal, marine, and wildfires. According to Dave Sharp, Science and Operations Officer, "the idea was to give decision makers such as emergency managers information they could readily use to plan their day and distribute their resources according to the threat that exists for that day."

According to Bart Hagemeyer, Melbourne's Meteorologist In Charge (MIC), "these products have been evolving over the last several years. They change according to ideas we receive from our users. By now, most county emergency managers check these graphics every day."

The WFO also issues a separate graphical product when tropical weather threatens. A Combined Tropical Cyclone Hazards product depicts the kind of threat that exists, including wind, storm surge, flooding, marine, and tornado. For each category, a level of threat, from very low to extreme, is specified. The Tropical Cyclone Hazards product complements the Hurricane Local Statement by providing a visual display of the impact of tropical weather on Melbourne's area of responsibility. The catalyst for this product was Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Forecast to hit east central Florida, it curved away from the coast. Sharp says, "the challenge was to show the emergency management community the changing threat as the forecast track for Floyd changed. If you are an emergency manager trying to get information from multiple sources, text products can be long and complex."

Currently these products are largely custom-made graphics produced by forecasters. Hagemeyer adds that, "forecasters synthesize their knowledge of the state of the weather and depict that information graphically." However, the Graphical Forecast Editor (GFE) of the Interactive Forecast Preparation System (IFPS) is used as much as possible. "We'll transition to all IFPS over time," said Hagemeyer.

In fact, recent collaboration with WFO Tampa Bay has lead to a fully GFE-based Combined Tropical Cyclone Hazard product suite. This new version will be used by WFO Melbourne during the 2002 Hurricane Season and will be made available to other Florida WFO's for use later this season.

"Melbourne's use of graphical products is an example of the kind of products and services planned with IFPS," states Bob Glahn, IFPS Program Manager. "The new forecasting process will facilitate a change from schedule-driven, text-oriented forecasts to interactive, collaborative and information-oriented services to give NWS customers what they want: more weather data, higher resolution forecasts, visual displays, and user-defined products." Check out Melbourne's Graphical Hazardous Weather Outlook web page at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mlb/hwofiles/hwomain.html.

For an overview of IFPS, see the article by Bob Glahn in the May 6, 2002, issue of NOAA's NWS Focus.

MIC Briefs Media at Satellite Launch

NOAA-17, a new NOAA satellite that will improve weather forecasting and monitor environmental events around the world was launched on June 24, 2002, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and several civilian companies partnered to send the newest environmental satellite into space aboard a vintage Titan II rocket.

Todd Morris, Meteorologist-In-Charge at the NWS Los Angeles-Oxnard office, briefed the media covering the launch and explained how NWS meteorologists use NOAA's environmental satellites. Morris called his office several times while en route to update himself on dense fog conditions. When he and reporters arrived at the launch area, Morris said, "It is going to be close on the timing as to whether the fog or the rocket will lift first. I hope we can see it and not just hear it."

Finally, at 11:23 a.m., Pacific Standard Time, a colorful plume of brown smoke announced the successful launch of NOAA-17.

"To be here was a great opportunity for me," Morris said. "Within a few short weeks, our teams of meteorologists across the country will begin receiving the data. The data from the NOAA-17 weather satellite will be important to improving our long-range climate forecasts. The more scientists know in advance of an approaching weather system, the better they can perform their jobs effectively."

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A new weather buoy, funded through NOAA's Coastal Storms Initiative, was deployed on June 25, 2002, near the edge of the Gulf Stream, 42 miles east of St. Augustine, FL. The buoy, identified as 41012, joins two similar models off Florida's Atlantic Coast. The buoy will give NWS meteorologists in Jacksonville more information to develop better marine weather forecasts, as well as giving oceanographers and biologists improved data on water movements below the surface.

"This buoy fills a data gap in marine observations, which help meteorologists understand current conditions over the water and issue more detailed forecasts," said Paul Moersdorf, National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) Director. "The new buoy is also what the marine community needs to ensure they have the latest observations to make safe decisions in the water."

Data buoys collect real-time observations of wind speed, wave heights, and air-and sea-surface temperatures. Buoy 41012 also reports the water's salt content, a first for NDBC buoys. Long-term salinity measurements help scientists monitor changes in the underwater ecosystem, including fish and plant life.

The new buoy, launched by the NDBC and the U.S. Coast Guard, will give a vertical profile of ocean current measurements using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, which operates much like a Doppler weather radar. The profiler sends sound waves in different directions toward the ocean floor, and helps detect shifts in ocean currents.

"Resource managers and local officials in the St. John's watershed will benefit from the data the sensors provide," said Jamison Hawkins, deputy director of NOAA's National Ocean Service. "It gives them the best information available to make critical decisions about land and natural
resource use in the coastal zone."

The Coastal Storms Initiative, administered by NOAA's National Ocean Service, is responsible for a wide range of activities in the Jacksonville area, including improved measurements of the depths and currents of the St. John's River.

The new buoy's real-time weather observations will be posted under the "Recent Data" section of the NDBC's web site. The latest observations also are available through the Dial-a-Buoy system, (228) 688-1948.

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NWS Supports Antarctic Ice Rescue

Some employees in the Office of the Chief Information Officer at NWS Headquarters did their part recently to support a rescue mission at the bottom of the world. A team from the Operations Support and Performance Monitoring Branch of the Telecommunications Operations Center helped an international effort to rescue the crew on a ship stranded in an Antarctic ice jam. The team leader is Fred Branski, with team members Julie Hays, Walter Smith, and Richard Robinson. They responded to a request by the Argentine meteorological service for aviation-type forecast products generated by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, the United Kingdom Meteorological Office, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts to the Argentine meteorological service. The team arranged for delivery of all the forecasts and maintained a watch on the communications lines to Argentina.

According to Lloyd Irvin, Chief of the Operations Support and Performance Monitoring Branch, "our tasks are to ensure that the products requested are available, distribute the forecast data to Argentina's Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, and maintain contact with them to make sure the requirements are met."

A German-owned vessel, the Magdalena Oldendorff, ran into impassable ice on June 11 after delivering supplies to a Russian research base. Two ships, one from South Africa and the other from Argentina, were dispatched to help before increasingly bad winter weather made that impossible. The South African vessel, the Agulhas, completed its mission Monday, July 1, after rescue teams on its two helicopters finished ferrying 88 Russian scientists and crew members trapped on the Magdalena Oldendorff. The Argentine ship, an icebreaker, was scheduled to arrive on July 7 to clear a path and make way for the trapped vessel. For a news report, click here.

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NWS Launches New Employee Orientation Program

Employees new to the National Weather Service now have an arsenal of information at their fingertips thanks to an employee orientation program designed to familiarize new employees with the organization's structure and operations. "Two key features of this initiative are the Buddy Program and the new Web site," said Harriet Hartman, Management Analyst in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. "The Buddy Program helps new employees become adjusted to their offices more quickly, while the Web site provides one-stop-shop-access to information about the NWS and our operations at Headquarters and the field."

The New Employee Orientation Program was developed in cooperation with the National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO) by a team of Headquarters and field employees. The process of developing the program involved looking at the needs of new employees and existing programs offered by other line offices. This program augments the NOAA new employee orientation program by helping new NWS employees learn NWS's mission and core values; develop a sense of pride in the role NWS plays as America's weather service, recognize the value of their job to the organization, and identify and use the various resources available within the NWS. Click here to visit the new employee orientation home page.

WFO Great Falls Hosts a Job Shadow

The Great Falls, MT, Weather Forecast Office (WFO) played host to job shadow, Margaret Houge, last month. Houge, a fourth grade school teacher at the Lewis and Clark Elementary School in Great Falls, won the shadow opportunity through a grant awarded by the Great Falls School District. Houge says that she chose the National Weather Service because she wanted to learn more about weather and feel more comfortable teaching that portion of her curriculum.

Houge shadowed the WFO staff during a busy week. A late snow and rain storm brought the drought-stricken rivers in north central Montana above their banks. So, Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) Rick Dittmann, forecaster and Incident Meteorologist (IMET) Bernie Meier, and Houge toured streams and rivers in several counties documenting stages to update hydrologic records. Houge accompanied Dittman to a school talk and a FEMA-sponsored exercise. She also accompanied Senior Service Hydrologist Gina Loss to a monthly drought task force meeting hosted by Montana's Lieutenant Governor, Carl Ohs. Houge also spent time with the forecast staff learning how they gather data and implement that information into the forecast process.

NOAA Norman: "Gab at the Grill"

The Norman, OK, Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) Employees Association has scheduled its first ever "Gab at the Grill" event for July 11, 2002, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The association purchased a grill for use at the facility and on planned dates will cook up burgers for $1 for members, $3 for non-members. Employees are encouraged to bring a blanket or just sit on the lawn and picnic tables. This offers a good opportunity to chat with NSSL/SPC staff in a social gathering. Students and their mentors are welcome to attend. No advance reservations are required–just show up and enjoy!

Central Region Hosts Golf Tournament

The 17th Annual Central Region/NWS Golf Association Golf Tournament was held in Des Moines, IA, on June 24-28, 2002. A total of 40 NWS golfers attended, representing 17 states. Non-golfers who attended raised the total to about 55. Tournament host Jerry Adams of the Des Moines Weather Forecast Office made all the arrangements at Waveland, Blank, and Willow Creek golf courses. He also arranged lodging/hospitality at a Best Inn & Suites located across the road from Willow Creek Golf Course. Three volunteers from Des Moines escorted non-golfing spouses and children on some local Des Moines sightseeing activities.

Weather conditions during the week, in general, were favorable for the golfers, although it was very warm with temperatures above 90 each day. There were some scattered thunderstorms around early Wednesday morning but they moved away in time for the first tee time at 7:30 a.m.

Information on the dates and location of the 2003 tournament will be distributed this fall. Contact Brian Hahn (brian.hahn@noaa.gov) to get on the mailing list.

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Employee Milestones

• Click here to see NEW APPOINTMENTS/TRANSFERS to NWS through June 30, 2002
• Click here to see RETIREMENTS/DEPARTURES from NWS through June 30, 2002