Naonal Weather Service Decision Support Services

Naonal Weather Service Des Moines, Iowa Naonal Weather Service

"The Naonal Weather Service (NWS) provides weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protecon of life and property…" Naonal Weather Service Structure

La Crosse Sioux Falls

Des Moines

Omaha Quad Cies Disasters Affect Iowa Severe Weather Reports 1980-2006 Data Source: www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/rda/DMX.html

Blue dots = damaging wind Blue Dots = Wind gusts of 75 mph or stronger Green dots = large hail Green dots = Hail of 2" diameter or larger Red dots/lines = tornadoes Red dots/lines = Tornadoes F2 or stronger Disasters Affect Iowa Presidential Declarations, 1964-2011

Total Number of Declaraons % Due to Flooding (Parally or Totally)

Data Source: hp://gis.fema.gov/DataFeeds.html NWS Decision Support Services (DSS) Overview NWS provides specific/tailored support to Emergency Managers (EMs)/Core Partners within the scope of our Mission

• NWS DSS Goals • Communicaon is key! • Use concise, non-technical terms • Use the decision maker's preferred method • Understand a customer's specific needs • Know role in Incident Command System • NWS Staff has had some NIMS Training • Understand the incident's "big picture" NWS Des Moines DSS Overview

• State Level DSS • Staff the State Emergency Operaons Center (SEOC) • 10 Full Acvaons since 1993 • Latest: May 2013 flooding • Provide Virtual Support from the WFO for Virtual SEOC Acvaons • State Agency Briefings • Statewide Webinars NWS Des Moines DSS Overview

• County and Local DSS • NWS Products and Services • Webinars • Web Briefings • Virtual & On-Site Support • Special Events and Post-Event • e.g., Damage Surveys, Parkersburg Incident Met., etc. • Training • Series of monthly EM/responder webinars • Dispatcher and Spoer Training • EM DSS Workshop • Outreach – County Visit Program • 1:1 training on all NWS Services for EMs and Media (Visits every 2-3 yrs) Roune Products Available at www.weather.gov/dmx

• 7-day Forecast • Text • Graphical • Forecast Discussion • Hourly Weather Graph • Observaons • Hourly – Automated • 6-Hourly/24-Hourly – Manual • Daily/Monthly Climate Reports • Temperature • Winds/Gusts • Precipitaon (Snow/Rain Amounts) Hydro Products Available at www.weather.gov/dmx

• River Forecasts • Text • Graphical • Long-Range Risk • Weekly/3 month outlook Outlook Products Available at www.weather.gov/dmx

• Weather Story • Daily at 6am • Highlights the most significant weather story in the next few days

• Hazardous Weather Outlook • Daily at 5am • Two Periods • Today/Tonight • Days 2 through 7 • Highlights any hazardous weather expected in the next 7 days • Watch, Warning, Advisory • Webinars and Web Briefings NWS Des Moines • Webinars (EM/State Partners) • Hours to days ahead of expected significant hazardous weather • Severe Weather or Winter Weather • Flash Flooding or Major River Flooding • Coordinated with the State Duty Officer • Noficaon – State Duty Officer Email • Followed up with a web briefing • Web briefings possible without a webinar • Available on our web page • Accessible by EVERYONE NWS Winter Weather Services Timeline • Products for each Phase • Outlook (Be Aware) • 2-7 Days • Hazardous Weather Outlook • Watch (Could Occur) • Days to Hours • Watch • Watch • Watch • • Warning (Will Occur/Is Occurring) • Hours to Minutes • Winter • • • NWS Severe Weather/ Services Timeline • Products for each Phase • Outlook (Be Aware) • Hazardous Weather Outlook Watch • Storm Predicon Center Hours to Minutes Convecve Outlooks • Watch (Could Occur) • Severe Watch Warning • Watch Minutes • • Warning (Is Occurring) Outlook • Severe Thunderstorm Days to Hours Warning • • Flash Storm Predicon Center Severe Weather Outlooks • Convecve Outlooks • Day 1, 2 & 3 Outlooks • Slight • Moderate • High • Day 4-8 Outlook • Enhanced Thunderstorm Outlook • Current day broken into 4-hr me periods • Morning • Late Morning/Early www.spc.noaa.gov Aernoon • Late Aernoon/Early Evening Storm-Based Warnings Threat-Based Polygon Warnings

• Implemented in 2008 • Replaced County-Based Warnings • Severe Thunderstorm, Tornado & Flash Flood Warnings • More specific • Increased clarity • Less area included in a warning • Fewer people warned/False-Alarmed • 61% reducon – Severe • 80% reducon – Tornado Impact Based Warnings New in 2013 Tornado Tag in Severe Thunderstorm Warnings A severe thunderstorm has some potential for producing a tornado although forecaster TORNADO…POSSIBLE confidence is not high enough to issue a Tornado Warning Hail/Wind Tags in Severe Thunderstorm Warnings HAIL…2.75IN Max of 2.75" or baseball hail expected WIND…70MPH Max of 70 mph winds expected Tornado Tag (Tornado Warnings) TORNADO...RADAR Evidence on radar and environment is INDICATED supportive, but no confirmation. TORNADO...OBSERVED Tornado is confirmed by spotters, law enforcement, etc. Tornado Damage Threat Tag (Tornado Warnings) No Tag Used most of the me, when tornado damage possible within the warning polygon. Tornado duraon generally expected to be short-lived TORNADO DAMAGE Used rarely, when there is credible evidence THREAT...CONSIDERABLE that a tornado, capable of producing considerable damage, is imminent or ongoing. Tornado duration generally expected to be long-lived TORNADO DAMAGE Use exceedingly rarely, when a severe threat THREAT...CATASTROPHIC to human life and catastrophic damage from a tornado is occurring, and will only be used when reliable sources confirm a violent tornado.. Tornado duration generally expected to be long-lived Tornado/Flash Flood Emergencies

• • A destrucve confirmed tornado which will likely move into a populated area resulng in serious property damage and a high potenal for loss of life! • Used with the "Catastrophic" Tornado tag. • Flash Flood Emergency • A serious flash flood which will likely cause severe damage and a high potenal for loss of life! Interacve NWS (iNWS) Alerts inws.wrh.noaa.gov • Free, but account registraon required • Text Message and/or Email alerts • Alerts for a user-defined area • e.g., city, zip code, or custom polygon area • Mulple locaons allowed • Specify the types of alerts to receive • Service designed specifically for NWS partners

Severe Thunderstorm Watch from 08/06/2013 6:52 PM CDT to 08/07/2013 12:00 AM CDT for Dallas County. More Informaon. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) or Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) Warning Type CMAS Message • Joint Effort by the wireless Tsunami Warning Tsunami danger on the coast. Go to high ground or move inland. Check local media. –NWS

industry, FCC and FEMA Tornado Warning Tornado Warning in this area til hh:mm tzT. Take shelter now. Check • Since April 2012 local media. –NWS Extreme Wind Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Take shelter. – NWS

• Naonal emergency alert Flash Flood Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Check local media. – NWS

system Hurricane Warning Hurricane Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Check local media and authorities. –NWS

• No fee to users Typhoon Warning Typhoon Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Check local media and authorities. –NWS

• Automac enrollment Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Avoid travel. Check local media. –NWS • Concise Text-like Alert Messages • Presidenal Alerts • Imminent Threat Alerts • Extreme and Severe • AMBER Alerts • More info at: www.weather.gov/com/weatherreadynaon/wea.html DSS on the Go More information at: www.weather.gov/images/dmx/DSSResGuide.pdf

• NWS Mobile Website • hp://mobile.weather.gov/ • Third-Party Mobile Apps* • Some free/some not • *NOAA/NWS does not officially endorse these products • Radar • Android – PYKL3 and RadarScope • Apple – RadarScope • Warnings • Android - Pro Weather Alert • Apple - WeatherAlerts, iMap and MyWarn • Lightning – Spark Map on Weatherbug • Current Condions and Forecast – Be aware that some apps "interpolate" observaons • Many available - Forecasts originang from various sources • Android/Apple - Weather Channel, Weatherbug, AccuWeather, Weather Underground, etc. Social Media

Facebook Twier • US Naonal Weather • @NWSdesmoines Service Des Moines Iowa • #nwsdmx • #iawx • #iowaweather

YouTube NWS Des Moines

NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio

• Broadcasts weather informaon 24/7 • SAME TONE Alert Technology • Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) •Weather Watches, Warnings and Advisories • Severe, Winter, Flood and Flash Flood • Non-weather Emergency Noces • Civil Emergency Messages • Amber Alerts, etc. Unscheduled Event Services

• Air Dispersion/Hazardous Material Issues • HYSPLIT – air dispersion model • HYbrid Single-Parcle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory • Output for a single instance or for a period of me • Chemical Releases • Fires • Explosions • Example: Support for the Iowa State Fair • Fire Weather Forecasts • Spot Forecasts for Prescribed Burns and Wildfires • Spot Forecasts also used at mes for hazardous material issues • e.g., downtown DSM warehouse fire Unscheduled Event Services

• Weather & River Forecasts • Fires & Hazmat • Searches • Weather-Sensive Operaons

Des Moines Register

Sioux City Journal

Des Moines Register Post-Event DSS

• Once storm damage has occurred • NWS coordinaon with county • Finalize inial damage esmates • Nofy of damage survey acvies • Survey all suspected EF2 or stronger tornadoes • Results released to the media and placed on NWS website • Support during clean-up if needed • Majority - Remote DSS • Incident Meteorologist dispatched aer the Parkersburg tornado NWS RSS Feeds (Really Simple Syndication - RSS) • www.nws.noaa.gov/rss • Allows you to easily stay informed • Informaon can be sent to: • Email • Web Browser (Firefox, IE, Chrome, etc) • Cell/Smartphone • Feeds are available for: • Watches, Warnings and Advisories • Filtered by County or State • Severe Weather Outlooks • Hydro Data • Observed River Data – updated when new observaons are received • River Forecasts – provided whenever a river forecast is issued • Alert Data – received when crical stages are observed or forecast • Data and Forecast Points • Automated Airport Observaons DSS Web Resources National & Local

• Naonal NWS – www.weather.gov

• Local NWS DSS – www.weather.gov/?n=dsscurrent • Enhanced Version: Google Map with overlays • Standard Version (best for slower internet connecons) • Broken into sub-pages based on topic: • Current Condions, Forecast, Severe Weather, Winter Weather, Hydro, Safety, etc.

• Naonal NWS DSS – hp://preview.weather.gov/edd/ • Similar to the local Enhanced Version DSS page DSS Web Resources Hydrology – Including Non-NWS

• Flooding DSS Resources (not all-inclusive) • NWS Advanced Hydrologic Predicon Services (AHPS) - hp://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=dmx • U.S. Water Monitor - hp://watermonitor.gov/ • USGS WaterWatch - hp://waterwatch.usgs.gov/ • USGS WaterAlert - hp://water.usgs.gov/wateralert • USGS WaterNow - hp://water.usgs.gov/waternow/ Live Demonstraons

• DSS Web Resources • NWS page (Naonal/Local) • NWS DSS pages (Naonal/Local) • Hydrology • AHPS – Flood inundaon mapping • USGS WaterAlert • USGS WaterNow Weather-Ready Naon (WRN) Ambassador

• Who can be a WRN Ambassador? • Any organizaon (govt or non-govt), business, non-profit, or academic instuon • What is a WRN Ambassador? • Intended for enes to help to build a naon that is ready, responsive and resilient to the impacts of extreme weather and water events • Key Factors: • Promote Weather-Ready Naon messages and themes (safety and preparedness) • Engage with NWS personnel on potenal collaboraon opportunies • Ex. Host a weather preparedness talk, parcipate in a test tornado drill, etc. • Share success stories of preparedness and resiliency • Serve as an example by educang employees on workplace preparedness

Weather-Ready Naon (WRN) www.weather.gov/com/weatherreadynaon/ WRN Ambassador www.weather.gov/com/weatherreadynaon/ambassadors.html#.U1nrpleTJ8E Thank You

For quesons & addional informaon: NWS Des Moines, IA www.weather.gov/desmoines Email: [email protected] OR jeff[email protected] Phone: 515-270-4516