Editors' Note:
Getting Your Story In Focus: Start By Recognizing Elements of a News Article

For those who want to learn a little more about successful news writing, take a minute to read a short Washington Post newspaper article that explains how a news story is written. From the experience of journalism graduates who have had a lot of this kind of training, this brief article, written for a feature called the "Kids Post," is easily one of the best explanations of the kind of writing we try to give you in every NOAA's NWS Focus article. If you plan to submit a news item for NOAA's NWS Focus, this is a good guide to follow.

Working Together to Save Lives:
Partners Use Grant to Establish New Weather Radio Transmitter For Upstate New York Finger Lakes Region

A new 1000-watt NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) transmitter was officially given to the National Weather Service by the City of Ithaca Fire Department in a ceremony November 15, 2002. The Ithaca Fire Department obtained grant money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service NOAA Weather Radio Grant Program, which provided funding for the new transmitter.

The Park School of Communications at Ithaca College provided tower space for the transmitter on the campus radio station's tower. The project was a joint effort between the City of Ithaca Fire Department, Ithaca College, Tompkins County Emergency Management and the NWS Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Binghamton.

"The new NWR station fills a critical gap in NOAA weather radio coverage in Ithaca, NY, which boasts a large student population from Cornell University and Ithaca College," said David Nicosia, WCM, NWS Binghamton. "The transmitter now provides NOAA weather radio coverage for the Finger Lakes, which on a typical summer day can have thousands of recreational boaters."

Brian Wilbur, Chief of the Ithaca Fire Department, said the effort to obtain an NWR transmitter had strong community support, especially among various boater organizations, the Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Town of Dryden Pre-Disaster Mitigation Project leaders.

"There is no doubt that the warning alerts from this NOAA Weather Radio transmitter will someday save lives in this region!" said Chief Wilbur.

According to Craig Wulf of the RUS, about $3.7 million of $5 million in NWR grants have been distributed, and the RUS continues to accept grant applications from communities seeking funding for NWR transmitters. If you have questions concerning this program, contact Craig Wulf, cwulf@rus.usda.gov, or Orren E. Cameron, ecameron@rus.usda.gov.

AWIPS To Gain Forecasting and Evaluation of Seas and Lakes

The NWS's Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL) is working on an operational software package that will integrate marine information on AWIPS and assist coastal Weather Forecast Office (WFO) and NCEP forecasters in their warning and forecast decision making process.

The capability, called System on AWIPS for Forecasting and Evaluation of SEas and LAkeS (SAFESEAS), will be based on the System for Convection Analysis and Nowcasting (SCAN) approach, which provides forecasters with decision assistance for severe weather warnings and forecasts.

"SAFESEAS is a decision-assistance application that will provide NWS forecasters the capability to monitor marine observations and alerts of potentially hazardous marine warning conditions," said Therese Pierce, Chief of the Marine and Coastal Weather Services Branch in the Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services. "This will help forecasters alert mariners and coastal residents earlier to severe marine weather and increase their margin of safety."

Initially, SAFESEAS will provide a meteorological watch function, monitoring marine data and alerting the forecaster when various parameters (e.g., wind, wave, and visibility) are exceeded. Eventually, SAFESEAS will integrate marine information into a decision-assistance architecture. According to Stephan Smith, chief of MDL's Decision Assistance Branch, SAFESEAS will also "provide a conduit into operations for new science and applied techniques related to marine warnings and forecasts developed by NOAA and university researchers."

The software testing starts in December at WFOs Boston, MA; Oxnard, CA; Mobile, AL; and Detroit, MI. If testing is successful, the rollout to coastal WFOs is planned for Operational Build 3, scheduled for late fall 2003.

Oregon Outreach Effort Connects With 3,000 Science Educators

Eight NOAA staff from the Portland, OR, area represented the agency during the National Science Teachers Association Area Convention November 14-16, 2002. The annual convention drew more than 3,000 educators, administrators and exhibitors from around the country.

NOAA was one of several state and Federal government agencies armed with handbooks, web site information and technical experts to answer questions posed by educators. Representing NOAA was staff from NWS and NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

Tyree Wilde, Warning Coordination Meteorologist from the NWS Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Portland said he quickly learned that the educators felt NOAA was a tremendous resource for their own professional education as well as their students.

"I heard repeatedly how teachers and students have our NOAA.gov web site bookmarked," Wilde said. "They continue to visit these websites for the most current information on subjects such as the status of El Niño, or the weather in their local area. The teachers said their students access NOAA information for research projects every day and thanked us for the value we provide them. It made me proud to work here."

One highlight of the NOAA exhibit was an interactive lightning quiz. After successfully completing the short quiz, educators became eligible to win a new NOAA Weather Radio receiver for their school.

Sharon Aaron works in NOAA's Office of Public and Constituent Affairs' Correspondence Unit in Washington, DC. Part of her duties includes preparing responses to educators and citizen who contact NOAA and ask for various materials about the agency. As a first-time attendee during the NSTA Portland convention, Aaron learned first-hand which NOAA materials educators use in their classroom and to gain a better understanding of how teachers value access to government resources online and through printed brochures. She shipped thousands of pounds of printed materials to Portland and saw the piles of brochures diminish from the tables within a few minutes.

"Attending this program provided me with a better insight into how I can serve our NOAA customers," Aaron said. "I want to go to another NSTA program because now I know that teachers need and want our information."

The NOAA and NWS staff at the convention heard many educators say they liked the El Niño information because it is a topical issue now. Some educators noted that they find NOAA and NWS web pages they want to use, but many of the page layouts make it impossible to print the contents to fit on a standard 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper.

Additional NOAA staff included Andy Bryant, Jack Bohl and John Saltenberger from WFO Portland as well as WR Public Affairs Officer Marilu Trainor, and Patricia Vandetta, Allyson Ouzts, Jeff Lockwood, and Scott Rumsey from NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service.

Also On the Web...Official Photos Available for NWS Offices