An open house hosted by the Northern Indiana Weather Forecast Office drew more than 1,000 people in a five-hour period recently. The WFO staff set up displays and interactive stations throughout the office, and outside the office, the local American Red Cross chapter and the County Warning Area Spotter network IMO (Indiana Michigan Ohio) Skywarn had displays for visitors to see. A free raffle offered several donated prizes, including a unique opportunity for one person to become a Meteorologist for a Day and work along side a forecaster to help create the forecast for that day. For more detailed information and photos from the August 28, 2004, open house, click here to go to the Northern Indiana homepage. Photo by Lead Forecaster Todd Holsten, WFO Northern Indiana.

Warning Coordination Meteorologist David Soroka of the San Francisco Bay Area Weather Forecast Office talks with a boating enthusiast at the Northern California Fall Boat show at Jack London Square in Oakland, CA. Soroka reports the WFO staffed the exhibit for two weekends and visited with a few hundred mariners. Photo by Nora Soroka, David's wife.

Senior Forecaster John Cockrell (left) and MIC Jose Garcia of the Amarillo, TX, Weather Forecast Office make "tornadoes in a bottle" for kids at Discover 2004. More than 500 of these model tornadoes were given to local kids. Each tornado bottle included a lable which promoted WFO Amarillo. Photo by Jim Wingenroth, Meteorologist Intern, WFO Amarillo.

WFO Amarillo hosted more than 80 people for its 4th annual Spotter and Cooperative Observer Picnic on August 21, 2004. Patrick Robertson provided music for the event. "It's a great way to show our volunteers how much we appreciate the work they do for us, said Warning Coordination Meteorologist Steve Drillette. Walmart of Amarillo donates all the food, drink, and door prizes. Photo by Jim Wingenroth, Meteorologist Intern, WFO Amarillo.

Take a look at other NWS news, as submitted for the NOAA Weekly Report.