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

“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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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: www.weather.gov or www.noaa.gov/wrn 14

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

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

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