Ocean Commission Releasing Preliminary Report

A Texas emergency manager credits timely National Weather Service flood warnings and strong interagency cooperation with saving lives during a West Texas flood event April 3-4, 2004. When fast moving floodwaters caused an Interstate-20 bridge to collapse 15 miles west of Pecos, TX (Reeves County), late Sunday afternoon, nobody was on it. State and local authorities had already closed the bridge to traffic.

The same storm system that caused such deadly flooding south of the border, dumped an average of two to three inches in Reeves County, with up to seven inches in isolated areas. Floodwaters broke through a levee early Sunday afternoon allowing several feet of water to pour through the small town of Toyah, just west of the bridge site.

Working closely with the NWS West Gulf River Forecast Center, the Weather Forecast Office in Midland, TX, issued a total of 21 Flash Flood Warnings during the event, including 13 Flash Flood Warnings and Statements for Reeves County.

A Flash Flood Statement issued about an hour and a half before the collapse, warned "A Flash Flood Watch remains in effect through tonight for all of southeast New Mexico and West Texas. Additional heavy rainfall will result in rapid runoff and flash flooding due to saturated ground."

Reeves County Emergency Manager Rick Herrera, officers of the Texas Department of Transportation, Department Public Safety and the Sheriff's office then closed the bridge to traffic. "We were still getting pounded by rain and we were still under the Flood Watch. We checked the forecasts and knew we would continue to be under a Flood Watch. So we blocked off the eastbound bridge - the one that collapsed - then noticed cracks in the westbound bridge. So we closed it off as well."

Several thousand cars and trucks are estimated to use the bridge daily. "We have a lot of traffic go through here. I'm sure we would have lost some lives and we were lucky not to have any injuries," he added.

Herrera says he was in close contact with the Midland Weather Forecast Office and local storm spotter network throughout the storm. "It worked like clockwork and the National Weather Service deserves praise for the help they gave us."

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NEXRAD Level II Radar Data Now Available in Real Time

High-resolution radar data from the national network of Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) is now available in real time to government, university and private sector users.

NWS distributes the NEXRAD data through four top-tier sites, said Tim Crum, NWS NEXRAD operations focal point with the NOAA Radar Operations Center in Norman, OK.

Three of these sites, Purdue University, University of Oklahoma, and The Education and Research Consortium of the Western Carolinas, have agreed to make Level II data available to all private sector users equally on a cost-recovery basis without restriction on redistribution or use. The fourth site, the NWS Telecommunication Operations Center, will make data available through a Family of Services approach if there is interest from the commercial community. Read the complete NOAA news story here.

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NOAA/Weather ChStormReady_Goes_to_Hong_Kongannel Program Water's Fury Premieres April 24

Water's Fury, the latest joint production between NOAA and The Weather Channel, airs for the first time April 24, 2004. The 22-minute program looks at the perils of flooding and what the men and women of the NWS are doing to provide quicker and more accurate flood predictions. Featuring dramatic footage from actual flash and river floods, the show highlights some of the NWS's newest technologies and shows how our forecasters are helping people steer clear of danger.

Employees who appear in the video include: Gary Carter, Director, NWS Office of Hydrologic Development; Theresa Rossi, Meteorologist-In-Charge (MIC), Pittsburgh, PA, Weather Forecast Office (WFO); Bob Davis, Lead Forecaster, WFO Pittsburgh; Rich Kane, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, WFO Pittsburgh; Peter Gabrielsen, Chief, Hydrologic Services Division, NWS Eastern Region Headquarters; Jack Kelly, Deputy Undersecretary; Dave Reed, Hydrologist-In-Charge (HIC), Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center (RFC); and Rob Hartman, HIC, California Nevada RFC, Sacramento, CA.

Show times on The Weather Channel are: April 24, 8 p.m. EDT; and April 25, 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. EDT.

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30 TH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY STIRS MEMORIES OF DEADLY TORNADO OUTBREAK OF '74

( April 3, 2004 ) - The National Weather Service Forecast Offices in Huntsville and Birmingham , Ala. hosted a 30 th anniversary commemoration ceremony to remember those who perished in one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. During a 24 hour period beginning April 3, 1974 , a total of 148 tornadoes touched down in 13 states, killing 330 people and injuring nearly 5,500 more. Eighty six of those people died in northern Alabama and nearly 1,000 were injured.

Many of the 130 national and local dignitaries, media representatives and citizens who gathered in the Athens State University Ballroom for the 30 th anniversary -- shared vivid, personal memories of the disaster. NWS Western Region Deputy Director James Campbell was an intern in the Birmingham office at the time. He recalled the first tornado struck Alabama around 6:30 p.m. "From that time until after midnight , we were working at a frantic pace. I was relaying watches and warnings and logging reports from spotters and state police. Sometimes I had a phone in each ear relaying warnings. The tools we had in 1974 were much different. There were no cell phones, pagers or the highly technical equipment we have today."

NWS Southern Region Director Bill Proenza noted the outbreaks in 1995 and 2003 spawned more tornadoes -- but dramatically lower death tolls (seven in 1995 and 39 in 2003). "Devastating tornado outbreaks such as the one in 1974 can and will happen again," he said. "But our forecasts and warnings have improved significantly in the last 30 years. With Doppler radar, sophisticated computer modeling and training techniques, we've increased our national average tornado warning lead time to 12 minutes - and that has saved a lot of lives over the years."

Birmingham Meteorologist-in-Charge Ken Graham noted, " Alabama is third in the nation for tornado deaths. Let us remember the past - so we can be ready for the future." Huntsville Meteorologist-in-Charge John Gordon added, "We must always remember, what we do is not about lines on a map. It's about people!"

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StormReady Goes to Hong Kong

The NWS certifies communities as StormReady when they demonstrate communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property, both before and during severe weather events. Currently, there are more than 700 StormReady communities in 47 states.

But now the StormReady program is generating interest on an international level, as Steve Kuhl, National Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) Program Manager, found out when he represented the United States and NWS at Hong Kong’s first symposium on Planning and Preparedness for Weather-Related Disasters on March 28-29, 2004.

Kuhl gave a presentation entitled The Outreach Program of the U.S. National Weather Service on Disaster Planning and Preparedness. Kuhl focused on the StormReady program, and also discussed the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, the Integrated Warning System, establishing partnerships, the role of Warning Coordination Meteorologists, the National Disaster Education Coalition (NDEC), Lightning Safety Awareness Week, and other NWS outreach activities.

"I was honored to give a presentation at such a prestigious symposium,” Kuhl said. “After my talk, several attendees from China and Australia said they were impressed with the amount of effort that the NWS puts into its Outreach Program. It was interesting to learn from the other attendees that we all agreed that running a robust weather safety outreach program is necessary to implement a successful warning and preparedness program in our respective countries.”

The NWS presentation generated a lot of interest. “They said they were going to take a copy of my presentation back home to show their meteorological services colleagues and improve their own outreach programs," noted Kuhl.

Kuhl also participated in a Discussion Forum where he addressed questions from more than 60 symposium attendees from around the world. Nations represented at the symposium included Hong Kong, the United States, China, Macau, Japan, Ireland, and Australia.

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Tsunami Warning Center Becomes First “Green” Certified Building in Alaska

A facility built to save lives has earned the distinction as NOAA's first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEEDTM) certified building.

The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC) facility in Palmer, AK, has been recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The new WC/ATWC began operations in June 2003. It was built to the exacting standards of the Green Building Council, whose LEEDTM certification program sets the standard for environmentally sensitive design.

A dedication ceremony is planned for May 20, 2004.

Read the full NOAA news story here.

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Also On the Web...Mark Trail and the National Science Teacher's Association

NOAA and the Peachtree City, GA, Weather Forecast Office recently participated in the National Science Teacher's Association's Annual Convention held in Atlanta, GA, April 1-4, 2004.

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