The staff from NOAA's NWS Indianapolis, IN, Weather Forecast Office (WFO) recently presented a unique outreach item at the Orchards in Bloom garden show. Forecaster Chad Swain and his wife Alana attached severe storm and flood safety rules to about 200 packets of seeds and distributed all of them during two days at the show. Climate and weather safety information was displayed at the booth, along with a tornado simulator.

Greg Zwicker (center) explains NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) to an attendee at the National Training Conference through an American Sign Language interpreter. NWR exhibited at the 10th National Training Conference (NTC) at the Cafritz Conference Center at George Washington University on May 9-11, 2005. This biennial conference is hosted by Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Government. The NTC goal is to increase awareness of issues that face deaf or hard-of-hearing government employees and their co-workers. The NWR exhibit provides outreach and education for conference attendees regarding the unique capabilities of NWR to provide timely, accessible, effective All Hazard emergency warnings to D/HH people that are nowhere else available. The NWR exhibit team of Steven Golston, Greg Zwicker, Betty Dodds, and Ken Putkovich introduced many of the 750 conference attendees to NWR. Visitors to the NWR exhibit included representatives of members of the President's Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities created by Executive Order No. 13347 signed by President Bush in July 2004.

WFO San Diego staff members recently visited with the USS Midway Museum staff to discuss the Cooperative Observer Program and assist them in locating of the weather equipment. Left to right are: John 'Mac' McLaughlin, President, San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum; Steven Vanderburg, Met Intern; Sara Mann Hanscom, Education Director; Bill Pond, Midway Educator; Brad Doyle, Observing Program Leader; Michael Khuat, ITO; seated, David Karle, Midway Docent. The Midway staff expressed enthusiastic interest in participating in the Cooperative Observer Program and our future participation in their educational program designed for 5th grade age students.

Take a look at other NWS news, as submitted for the NOAA Weekly Report.