Straight Talk:
CWSU Program Questions

Thank you for your recent questions related to our Center Weather Service Units and the Aviation Initiative. I would like to take a moment to respond to them.

Q. Assuming the FAA issues an RFP [Request for Proposals - ed.] for the CWSU program, will the NWS be allowed to compete and submit a bid? Is NWSH planning to submit a bid in the RFP process?

A. We are required, by law, to give "complete consideration" to FAA requests...so we will do that. The response will be based on information we learn during the ongoing CWSU prototype and our response will lay out for the FAA our best proposal for NWS to continue those services under the interagency agreement which supports them. I can't speculate on what the FAA may or may not do.

Q. The FAA has revised its budget targets and is looking for 40-60 percent cuts in the 12.5 million/yr CWSU budget, not 20 percent. If FAA/SYSOPS holds fast to these adjusted figures, any NWS proposal or...prototype...that only delivers 20 percent in reductions would appear to be "dead on arrival" when (and if) it reaches the FAA. Comments?

A. The FAA has requested we provide improved services at reduced cost, and, yes, they asked for a 20 percent reduction in cost. Again, the law requires us to give "complete consideration" to such requests, and we will do so by providing a response to the FAA this fall that is as attractive as possible. This summer's prototype will contribute to our proposal, and it has just started. The FAA has not asked us to consider an increased cost reduction, and may not choose weather support as an area to absorb an increased reduction.

Q. Since the CWSU program is a core NOAA/NWS function, does NWSH intend to pursue "direct funding" for the CWSU program via Congress/DOC/NOAA/ channels?

A. We recently discovered in a careful review of the CWSU program history that the Director of the NWS at the time the program was established in 1978 (Cressman) made just such a request for direct funding and was turned down by OMB. This precedent then continued for 28 years.

Q. If the CWSU program is terminated and CWSU staff are reassigned to our parent/local WFO, how long can we expect to stay at the parent WFO before budgetary and/or "staff balancing" pressures require possible further PCS reassignments?

A. You are asking me to speculate - in great detail - about what we would do in the event that something happens which I do not expect to happen. Right now we are planning to continue CWSU operations to support our aviation services to FAA ARTCCs, and focusing our efforts on making sure these plans come to pass.

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"OK, How Do I Set My E-Mail Vacation Message Again?"

The website for the NWS Headquarters Hotline support group has always included a wealth of useful information. Now, the Hotline has begun posting the answers to a number of their most frequently asked IT support questions for easy access.

Two of the most recent postings address instructions for changing e-mail passwords and setting vacation messages. Customers will need to log onto the Best Practices Intranet site to access the documents:

• How to Change your E-Mail Password
• How to Set a Vacation Message

As the site mentions, no matter where you are, as long as you have access to the Internet, you have access to the NWS Hotline.

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NWS Honors Iowa City StormReady Community Heroes

On July 7, 2006, the NWS honored five StormReady Community Heroes for their life-saving actions during the tornado that swept through Iowa City, IA, on April 13, 2006. Those honored included Tom Hansen and Sue Faith of Johnson County Emergency Management; Lora Phillips of Johnson County Communications Center; and Rev. Rudolph Juarez and Rev. Jerome Miller of St. Patrick's Catholic Church.

This was just the third time the national StormReady Community Hero Award was presented since it was created following the 2002 Veteran's Day tornado that struck Van Wert, OH.

From left, Lynn Maximuk, NWS Central Region Director; Tom Hansen, Johnson County Emergency Management; Lora Phillips, Johnson County Communications Center; Deacon Jerry Miller, St. Patrick's Catholic Church; Reverend Rudolph Juarez, St. Patrick's Catholic Church; Sue Faith, Johnson County Emergency Management; and Steve Kuhl, WFO Quad Cities MIC during a StormReady Heroes ceremony held in Iowa City, IA.

On April 13, 2006, Pastor Rudolph Juarez and Deacon Jerome Miller took quick action to protect parishioners before an F2 tornado struck St. Patrick's Church. At 8:20 p.m., Deacon Miller was leaving the church when he heard the tornado siren and immediately went back inside to notify Father Juarez, who was conducting a Rosary service. The service was stopped and over 50 parishioners took refuge in the basement of the next door rectory. The tornado slammed into the church just minutes later at about 8:35 p.m., collapsing the steeple and southern portion of the roof, including the choir loft, directly onto where the parishioners had been just moments before. The rectory also sustained significant damage, but parishioners sheltering in the basement escaped unharmed.

WFO Quad Cities issued a tornado warning for Johnson County at 7:58 p.m., which was 37 minutes before the tornado struck St. Patrick's Church.

Lynn Maximuk, Central Region Director, presented the awards at the St. Patrick's Parish Center. "Residents of Iowa City are thankful today that leaders like Mr. Hansen and Ms. Faith of Johnson County Emergency Management had the foresight and commitment to make this community StormReady," said Maximuk. "Rev. Juarez and Deacon Miller took emergency services to the personal level in keeping their parishioners safe. The warning alert systems and community education saved lives. These people are the epitome of StormReady Community Heroes."

The ceremony was attended by nearly 75 people including representatives from Senator Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin's offices, a representative from Congressman Jim Leach's office, David Miller, Administrator, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division, William Franklin, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Davenport, employees from WFO's Quad Cities and Des Moines, and local media and emergency management partners.

"Without a doubt, the advanced planning led by Tom Hansen and Sue Faith and the quick reactions of Father Juarez and Deacon Miller saved those people from serious injury or worse," said Stephan Kuhl, WFO Quad Cities Meteorologist in Charge. "It is very encouraging to my staff to be able to congratulate them for their outstanding warning services rather than having to extend condolences to all those families."

Summer Aware Online

The latest edition of the NWS Aware, a newsletter for emergency managers, partners and others interested in NWS programs was posted in mid July. Employees are welcome to subscribe.

To get an e-mail notice when Aware is posted, go to

http://www.weather.gov/os/awarelist.shtml

Articles, comments and compliments are welcome. Send them to Melody.Magnus@noaa.gov and Donna.Ayres@noaa.gov

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Large Mayfly Hatch Caught on Radar

A large mayfly hatch occurred along the Mississippi River June 30, 2006, and the WFO La Crosse, WI, NEXRAD captured the event. Follow the link to the WFO La Crosse web page for a loop of the radar and more background.

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WFOs Bismarck and Glasgow Check Out Burning Coal Seams

On July 12, 2006, four staff from WFO Bismarck, ND, met three employees from WFO Glasgow, MT, at the Little Missouri National Grasslands Ranger Station in Watford City, ND, for a tour of the Little Missouri National Grasslands (LMNG) with special attention to burning coal seams (coal veins).

The burning coal seams, a natural occurrence in the LMNG, were started by a large, fast-moving wildfire that ignited more than six years ago on Halloween evening in northeastern Montana and spread across northwestern North Dakota with strong northwest winds behind a cold front. Guide Oscar Knudtson, Assistant Fire Management Officer of the US Forest Service, explained that the Halloween fires of 1999 ignited 33 coal seams, and that there are about 28 of them still burning in the LMNG today.

Employees from NWS Bismarck and NWS Glasgow look on to the area affected by a burning coal seam in the Little Missouri National Grasslands in northwestern North Dakota. Seven members of team NOAA were treated to a tour of the area by Oscar Knudston, an Assistant Fire Management Officer with the US Forest Service. Discussion on fire weather services also took place in the 95-degree heat.

The burning coal seams are located beneath the surface of the ground, burn slowly, and tend to create cracks and open vents or fumaroles at the surface as a result of moisture depletion and deformation of the soil and rock from the intense heat being released. The sulphur smell of burning coal is also evident in the coal vein area, as well as land slumping creating a topographic bowl effect around the affected area. Vegetation above the coal veins is typically dead, a result of roots drying up or burning. The open cracks or vents at the surface can emit intense heat - hot enough to cook a steak in a few minutes! Any vegetation located near the vents could ignite and trigger a wild fire. The actively burning coal veins are apparently expanding, and this is an important concern of fire management within the LMNG. Fire crews work to contain and extinguish the coal veins by digging and exposing them to surface erosion and weathering.

The LMNG Ranger Station is in the McKenzie Ranger District. The fire fighting crew is responsible for fighting any fires that occur on US Forest Service land. The district crew also works with local volunteer fire departments to suppress fires safely and effectively. The crew is often on patrol or will put fire trucks in places where they feel the potential exists for wild fires. The district has conducted prescribed burns when authorized in order to improve the grasslands - by inhibiting the growth of certain types of vegetation, and by stimulating the growth of other types of vegetation.

Whether fighting out of control wild fires or conducting prescribed burns, the Fire Management Officer requests spot forecasts from WFO Bismarck...and regularly checks the twice daily Fire Weather Forecast issued by the Bismarck NWS.

WFO employees gained an appreciation for the valuable work of the fire crews, and realized how important reliable weather information is to their operations. This is one more way in which active communications between the NWS and fire management personnel will help create a better overall understanding of what and why specific information is needed from the NWS. The fire management officers also gained an appreciation for the forecast process and learned that feedback to the NWS regarding actual field conditions is an important link to improving fire weather forecasts.

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WFO Paducah Forecasters Avoid High Gas Prices and Stay Healthy Doing It

Whether it's raining, snowing, hot, windy or just a beautiful day, forecaster Mike York of WFO Paducah, KY, will be riding his bike a mile to work every day. Only in a few extreme cases has York reluctantly kept his bike at home and opted for the mundane three-minute drive in the car...for instance during Paducah Kentucky's 14.2 inch snowstorm back in December 2004!

David Blanchard, another forecaster at WFO Paducah, is also an avid biker. Although Blanchard lives farther from the office, he has been known to ride the nine-mile trek once in a while, but his interest lies more in long distance rides across the area. He has participated in many group rides around the four-state region, ranging from day trips in which he bikes around 60 miles, to several days involving camping out and hundreds of miles of biking. Some of his rides are for charity and some are for the pure enjoyment of the sport. Once in a while, Blanchard and York join interests and take to the trails together.

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