What Does It Cost NWS to Operate its Services? Management Tool Offers Data

NWS managers throughout the agency now have access to a tool for quantifying how much labor costs go into specific tasks, a capability which supports the NWS vision and strategic plan by helping managers assure that services are performed in a cost-effective manner.

The NWS Chief Financial Officer's office is leading an NWS-wide effort to maintain a cost management system for all offices in Headquarters and Regional Financial Management Centers (FMCs). The Program was implemented across all NWS regions in FY 02 and across all NWS FMCs in FY 03.

The NWS Cost Management System collects information on costs grouped along programmatic dimensions, referred to as cost objects, and makes this information available to managers through a web-based data warehouse.

"We ask NWS managers to estimate and categorize how their staff's time is spent," said NWS Comptroller, Violet Foster. "We combine data we get from managers through quarterly, web-based surveys with actual labor costs from NOAA's financial system to arrive at the labor cost data."

The CFO's staff then applies the percentage distribution of each organization's time among cost objects to the organization's labor costs to determine the labor costs associated with each cost object. For example, labor costs for aviation forecast products generated in a Weather Forecast Office (WFO) are based on the percentage of time that personnel spend on producing these forecasts relative to all other activities in the WFO.

Non-labor cost data is obtained through the use of an expanded set of base project codes for entering costs into the financial system. For example, all non-labor costs are charged to the project code that incurs the costs, these costs are then associated with cost objects based on the mapping of project codes to cost objects within the cost management system

Managers can view the labor and non-labor costs for each NWS organization in the NWS data warehouse. The data warehouse offers the information in a suite of pre-defined reports, or users can create tailored reports to assess specific program management decisions.

The cost information is already increasing NWS management's ability to evaluate program costs. In FY 03, the CFO's Cost Management team worked with the NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) program to analyze the operations and maintenance costs of NWR transmitters nationwide. The results of the study provided NWS management with greater insight into NWR operations, maintenance management problems, and costs.

Specific information on cost management can be found under the Cost Management link on the
CFO web page (http://www.weather.gov/cfo/comptroller/cost_management.htm). The cost management implementation guide on this page is currently being updated for FY 04.

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The final NWS Strategic Plan for 2003-2008 is now available. The theme of this plan, "Working Together to Save Lives," reflects our commitment to work closely with partners to meet the NWS mission.

"In writing the NWS plan, we considered all the input stakeholders provided at NOAA-sponsored meetings," said Ed Johnson, Director, NWS Strategic Planning and Policy Office. "The new plan was written to conform to the substance and structure of NOAA's Strategic Plan."

View the NWS Strategic Plan for 2003-2008 at the NWS Strategic Planning and Policy Office web site.

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StormReady Recognition Isn't End of Process

A local Weather Forecast Office (WFO) got a surprise when conducting an annual follow-up visit to a county with the StormReady designation.

St. Joseph County, IN, earned its StormReady recognition in February 2001. On November 17, 2003, WFO Northern Indiana visited the county for an update.

The meeting was unique because representatives from local television stations attended and participated in an interactive presentation and open discussion about the program. Steven Eddy, WFO Northern Indiana Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM), Sam Lashley, Senior Meteorologist, and Jeanne Mahoney, St. Joseph County Emergency Manager, hosted this visit at the local Emergency Management Office. WFO Northern Indiana's presentation included current severe verification statistics to demonstrate how NWS warning services have improved in the county since it first became StormReady back in 2001.

The local media had not previously understood the key role they play in the StormReady program.

"The media didn't think they had a big role to play in the process," said Eddy. "We quickly explained to them that the local media plays a key role in the StormReady program by helping educate local citizens about severe weather hazards, and promoting NOAA Weather Radio as a source for warning notification."

By the end of the meeting, Emergency Manager Mahoney had a verbal commitment from the television meteorologists to work together to promote and participate in upcoming spotter talks.

"This meeting shows how important it is to have refresher meetings with all the parties involved in the StormReady process," said Steve Kuhl, National WCM Program Manager at NWS Headquarters. "The local media is one of the major partners that help promote StormReady, and we can't successfully implement the program without them."

WFO Northern Indiana plans to invite local media again when the WFO hosts additional StormReady meetings.

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Flooding was a word much on the mind of the NOAA Employee of the Month earlier this year.

Service Hydrologist Edward J. Plumb of the Fairbanks, AK, Weather Forecast Office (WFO) earned the December Employee of the Month honors for his work in customer outreach and community awareness programs during a lengthy flood season in Alaska.

During an early spring flood event that persisted through the summer, Plumb developed a detailed and informative presentation titled "Ice Jam Flooding in Salcha" on extremely short notice. This presentation was originally used to brief the Fairbanks Manager of the Alaska Department of Transportation, the Director of the Alaska Division of Emergency Services, the Director of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Subsequently, the briefing provided information necessary for Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski to support declaring the area a disaster.

At the height of the event water rose nearly 6 feet in 30 minutes flooding 100 homes and resulting in an estimated $2 million in damages. Plumb provided daily weather/river briefings, participated in airboat reconnaissance with Salcha rescue crews, as well as aerial reconnaissance with Alaska Division of Emergency Services. He also coordinated RiverWatch aircraft flights, provided numerous media interviews, and briefed the entire Salcha Elementary School about flooding and flood safety.

In a thank you letter the Fairbanks North Star Borough Emergency Operations Manager remarked on Plumb's exemplary service as "an invaluable asset to the overall management of the incident. Ed Plumb went above and beyond the call of duty before, during, and after the 2003 Salcha Flood."

Plumb's research studies, presentations, and training have enhanced the local community's and region's understanding of WFO Fairbanks' hydrologic program. He has contributed to improvements in the regional hydrology program by bridging communication gaps between the Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center (APRFC) and WFO. In support of the APRFC "Ice and Snow Survey" program, Plumb designed a monthly schedule to perform ice thickness and snow depth measurements for all rivers and lakes in his area of responsibility. This data is crucial to the APRFC's spring breakup forecasts and in the determination of changing climatological trends.

According to John Dragomir, Meteorologist-In-Charge, WFO Fairbanks, "Ed took an already well established hydrology program for northern Alaska and made it better. He expanded public outreach and heightened the awareness of hydrological services and the National Weather Service in the local area."

Read more about Ed Plumb's Employee of the Month honors in the upcoming issue of NOAA Report.

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NWS International Hydrology Course Attracts 17 Nations

Students from 17 nations, many of which experience severe flooding, recently completed a four-week course in hydrology at the NWS Training Center in Kansas City, MO.

The NWS International Hydrology Course, held October 14 - November 7, 2003, was a cooperative world-wide partnership between NWS and the World Meteorological Organization. In addition to a large cadre of NWS experts, instruction was provided by NOAA's NESDIS and other government agencies such as the U.S. Geological Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers

Twenty-one students from 17 countries attended. These included Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan, El Salvador, Venezuela, Argentina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Romania, Nigeria, and South Africa.

"The opportunity was especially important because many of the participants represent countries where flooding and other water management issues are a constant source of concern," said Curt Barrett from the NWS International Activities Office (IA). The course provided attendees with basic operational hydrology training, combined with an overview of NWS hydrological operations and associated software. Implementing warning systems, the warning decision process, training requirements, and the various methods of gathering and analyzing meteorological and hydrological data, including demonstrations of NWS computer systems and capabilities, were covered.

While attending the course, the students had the opportunity to visit the Missouri Basin River Forecast Center and Weather Forecast Office in Pleasant Hill, MO, and tour the Overland Park, KS, ALERT system. Despite the busy agenda, there was also time to relax and participate in local community activities. IA's Tom Laufer and South African students Joyce Mathole and Estelle Van Niekerk participated in the Kansas City Humana Half Marathon and 5 km road races, where they won medals in their respective age categories.

Mary-Jeanne Adler of Romania called the course "a wonderful opportunity to meet people who share the same interests and concerns about hydrology. Now we can keep in contact through the e-mail to see how everyone is doing, and what new technologies we are using."

Joyce Mathole of South Africa added that she "would like to extend my thanks to NWS for the opportunity they gave us and wish for them to continue their good work. You guys are a blessing to the world."

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Also On the Web...North Carolina Office Marks First Flight Centennial

The Newport/Morehead City Weather Forecast Office has a web page with some historic photos to commemorate the First Flight Centennial on December 17, 2003. Read about the NWS's involvement with the Wright brothers and a short history of the NWS aviation program. The story includes pictures of the letter sent from the Weather Bureau to the Wright brothers about weather conditions on the Outer Banks, and a copy of the telegram sent from the Weather Bureau station at Kitty Hawk announcing the successful first flight.

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