On Wednesday June 25, 1997, Dr. Elbert W. Friday was removed as Director of the National Weather Service by Dr. D. James Baker under direction of the Secretary of Commerce. The reason for his removal centered on budget disputes.
Dr. Friday has accepted reassignment as Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. He will report for duty there on July 1, 1997. On his last day of duty at the National Weather Service, Dr. Friday participated in a "Dome Up" ceremony at the site of the new WSR 88D radar in Northern Indiana, midway between Ft. Wayne and South Bend. This radar should be operational by September 5, 1997.
Dr. Ants Leetma has been selected as the Director of the National Center for Environmental Prediction's (NCEP) Climate Prediction Center (CPC) in Camp Spring, Md. Dr. Leetma will oversee the day-to-day operations of the climate center--the leading center for monitoring, analyzing, and predicting climate events ranging from weeks to seasons. Dr. Leetma has been with NCEP since 1986, most recently as a senior scientist responsible for the development of the coupled ocean-atmosphere numerical model, the foundation of seasonal and interannual climate predictions.
NASA engineers continue tests on GOES 10 while it operates in a "Safe-hold" mode. Future status updates on GOES 10 are available at two web sites:
As part of final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act of FY 98 & 99 (HR 1119), the House on June 25th, 1997, adopted report language (Hrpt. 105-132) that recommends that the Secretary of Defense enlist the National Research Council to conduct a comprehensive study of Defense Department (DOD) Next Generation Weather Radars (NEXRADs). The study would compare availability and performance of DOD radars with the National Weather Service WSR 88Ds and include the feasibility and benefits of transferring all DOD NEXRADS to the Department of Commerce. The Bill passed the House 304-120. The Report also urged the Secretary of Defense to consult with the Administrator of NOAA on several suggested DOD NEXRAD operational changes that "will provide the same operational standards for DOD NEXRADs as the NWS-operated NEXRADs."
The NWS Office of System Operations will start to release important notices on the NOAAPORT data stream via e-mail. If you would liked to be added to the e-mail list, contact Julie.Hayes@noaa.gov.
The NWS will reconfigure public zone forecast areas in Washington state on July 1, 1997, at 1100 UTC / 7 AM EDT. Not only the zone forecasts, but also many other NWS products including flash flood statements and the state weather roundup are affected by the zone reconfiguration.
The NWS Office of Meteorology has posted a complete list of products and their headers at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notif.htm. In addition updated forecast zone maps are available and downloadable at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/modernize/st-maps/maps.htm.
On June 6, 1997, NESDIS implemented a new user fee schedule for sale of its data, information and products to commercial users. The new fees apply to all products from the three NESDIS data centers including the National Climate Data Center. The schedule was published in the May 7, 1997, Federal Register. The complete text of the notice can be viewed at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/NODC-WNew/newsfedreg.html.
The schedule also sets forth fees that NESDIS will charge for online access via the Internet. It is anticipated that this online capability will be operational within a year, and once available, will provide the means to satisfy many user requirements at substantially reduced costs.
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