National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Severe Thunderstorm and Flooding Threat in the Southeast; Next Pacific Storm Coming to the West

Isolated to widely scattered severe thunderstorms are possible across Georgia into southern South Carolina today with large hail, damaging wind gusts, and excessive rainfall which may lead to flash flooding the primary risks. Another Pacific storm will bring additional rounds of heavy rain, mountain snow, and high winds to California and southern Oregon late today into Wednesday. Read More >

Grant Cooper, Ph.D.



Grant Cooper, Ph.D.
Director, Western Region
National Weather Service
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Grant Cooper, Ph.D., is the Director of the National Weather Service (NWS) Western Region. His team of weather service professionals at 24 Weather Forecast Offices, 3 River Forecast Centers and 4 Center Weather Service Units provide weather, water and climate services for more than 65 million people in 8 western states.

Dr. Cooper joined the NWS following a thirty year career with the United States Navy. As a meteorologist and oceanographer, he served in a variety of operational weather tours and senior leadership positions including command of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center / Naval Maritime Forecast Center in Pearl Harbor, HI and Naval Central Meteorology and Oceanography Center, Kingdom of Bahrain. As Weather Services Director, Dr. Cooper had programmatic and operational oversight of the Navy’s aviation, maritime and expeditionary weather lines of operation. He also served as the senior meteorologist for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and later for Headquarters, U.S. Pacific Fleet. While on the U.S. Pacific Fleet staff, Dr. Cooper served as a charter member of the National Ocean Council’s Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Body for the Pacific Islands. His most recent assignment was as a member of the defense acquisition community where he served as senior advisor on the staff of the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence.

Dr. Cooper received his Ph.D. in Meteorology and M.S. degree in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography from the Naval Postgraduate School. He graduated with a B.S. degree in Geological Sciences (Geophysics) from San Diego State University.

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