Mission:
- Develop forecast guidance and mitigation guidance for storm surge hazards
- Evaluate the skill and accuracy of selected NWS products
- Maintain and Enhance software to decode and manipulate
official NWS products, primarily those encoded in GRIB2 format
The Evaluation Branch develops models for forecasting
hurricane storm surge, probabilistic hurricane storm surge, and extratropical
storm surge. Forecast guidance is produced to aid coastal forecasters in
producing warnings for high water levels along the nation's vulnerable
coastline. The branch personnel work closely with emergency managers, NWS
Forecast Offices, and the National Hurricane Center.
Also, the branch develops and maintains systems to assess the quality of
operational and experimental NWS forecasts. We provide NWS management
and the public with information about the skill and accuracy of various
forecast products. New techniques for verifying forecasts and displaying
results are investigated. Specialized studies are conducted as needed to
support service assessments carried out by other NWS organizations.
Finally, the branch maintain and enhances some software to
decode and manipulate official NWS products, primarily those encoded in GRIB2
format (see DEGRIB)
Contacts: