1. Be a Part of Building a Weather-Ready Nation
Christopher Strager
U.S. National Weather Service
WWOSC –Montreal, Canada
August 19, 2014

2. “Average” Year and Trends in the U.S.
Case for Change
“Average” Year and Trends in the U.S.
650 Deaths
$15B in Losses
26,000 Severe
Thunderstorms
6 Atlantic Basin
Hurricanes
1,300 Tornadoes
5,000 Floods
Regardless of the cause, the trend shows an increasing number of extreme weather events at increasing cost to the nation.
(Image source: Munich Re, 2014) 2 2

3. Case for Change In the past few years magnitude of disasters
reflects increased societal vulnerability
Trajectory of population growth along coast is steeper than nation as a whole.
Images: Tornado (April, 2011); Hurricane Sandy (2012); drought (2012), wildfire (file image); Colorado flooding (2013)
NOAA’s National Coastal Population Report (2013)

4. Extreme events well forecast…but societal impacts?
Case for Change
Extreme events well forecast…but societal impacts?

5. NWS Strategic Outcome: A Weather-Ready Nation
Becoming a Weather- Ready Nation is about building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather.
NOAA is developing new decision support services, improving technology to track and forecast storms, and expanding its dissemination efforts to achieve far- reaching national preparedness for weather events.
Decreasing Vulnerability by Increasing Resilience

6. NWS Conference: June 2014
Theme: “Empowering our people to lead the Weather-Ready Nation culture change”
Field Offices taking back to their offices…
Importance of consistency in products/services
Value of social science integration
Better understanding of IDSS public-private sector roles at local level
Outreach to stakeholder organizations

7. WRN Roadmap Implementation Plan Taking NWS to the Next Level
Moves the WRN Roadmap 2.0 into action by setting a 5-year course under the proposed NWS reorganization
Initial priority areas:
Improve service delivery to EM community by establishing consistent DSS training path for all
Establish Regional Operation Centers
Modernize Watch/Warning paradigm with latest technologies and social science
Improve model guidance and consistency
There are five focal points, which are encapsulated below (and are included in our FY15 AOPs for WRN):
Impacts Catalog -- to improve our connection and service delivery to the EM community
Establishment of Regional Centers, which will be at the forefront of local coordination and dissimination to the field (wording?)
Emergency Response Specialist (ERS) Training to improve our connections to the EM community 
FACETS 
Blender -- to improve forecast consistency across CWAs

8. Weather-Ready Nation Internal External to NOAA Five Major Focus Areas
Impact-based Decision Support Services
Communications/Outreach
Science & Technology Advances
Information Delivery
Innovative Partnerships
Internal
External to NOAA

9. Taking NWS to the Next Level Impact-based Decision Support Services
Recent Successes:
Impact-based Warning Demonstration (2012-current)
Experimental in Central Region
National Scout Jamboree (July 2013)
Pilot Projects (4 WFOs, 2 Operations Centers)
Emergency Response Specialists
Building relationships

10. Taking NWS to the Next Level Communications & Outreach
Consistent action-oriented messaging
Target underserved populations
Highlight value of Weather Enterprise
Participating in America’s PrepareAthon
Consistent action-oriented messaging…”Be a Force of Nature”
--Everyone should be using “Turn Around Don’t Drown” and “When Thunder Roars Go Indoors”
--Target new and underserved populations…get outside our comfort zone…Brickyard 400 the past two years
--Highlight not just NOAA value but all of Weather Enterprise…Weather Industry, Media, Academic and Research Partners
--Support other government agency initiatives such as America’s PrepareAthon events…

11. Taking NWS to the Next Level S&T Advances…including Social Science
Hurricane Arthur Storm Surge Inundation Map; dual pol debris ball; Winter hazard simplification; ecosystem forecasting

12. Taking NWS to the Next Level
Information Delivery
Deliver through multiple channels…
Social Media
Wireless Emergency Alerts
interactiveNWS (iNWS)

13. Strengthening Partnerships ▪ SOCIETAL RESPONSE EQUAL TO RISK ▪
We need partners’ help in transforming society to become ready, responsive and resilient to increasing extreme weather threats. NOAA will continue to improve outreach, IDSS, S&T, and dissemination methods. Building a Weather-Ready Nation requires the entire Weather Enterprise to work together to deliver information for better community, business, and personal decision making.
▪ SOCIETAL RESPONSE EQUAL TO RISK ▪ 13 13

14. Strengthening Partnerships WRN Ambassador Initiative
Who can be a part of and contribute toward building a Weather-Ready Nation?
All levels of government
Weather, Water, Climate Enterprise
Academia
Businesses & non-profits
Formal recognition of organizations that work with NOAA toward building a Weather-Ready Nation
Promote WRN messages and themes
Engage with NOAA on potential collaborations
Share success stories
Serve as an “Example”
Visit: or 14

15. Strengthening Partnerships WRN Ambassador Initiative
Early Successes
Outreach during preparedness weeks
Press releases and media interviews
Community events
Congressional testimony
Data access/formatting inquiries
Expansion of stakeholder engagement to non-traditional sectors
Insurance
Health
Real-Estate
Museums/Science Centers 15

16. Weather-Ready Nation Initiative Doesn’t Stop at Border…International Engagement
Same challenges exist in other countries
Global vulnerability increasing
Quantifying societal relevance
Communicating the science
We can learn from one another
Open dialogue
Sharing best practices
Strength in numbers 16