National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Extreme Heat Overspreads the Central and Southern U.S., Pushing East Through Midweek; Severe Weather and Excessive Rain for Portions of the Upper Midwest

Dangerous heat is expected across portions of the Central and Southeast U.S. through July. Severe storms for parts of the northern Plains & upper Midwest tonight & Wednesday- threats include a few tornadoes, damaging winds & excessive rain. Heavy rain may impact portions of the Southeast and Southwest into tonight. A tropical disturbance brings heavy rain to Guam & the Marianas through Friday. Read More >

Ajay Mehta


Sally Pavlow Johnson
Director, Central Region

 

Sally Pavlow Johnson is the Director of the NWS Central Region. She previously served as Central Region Deputy Director from December 2021 to April 2024.


Sally began her career with the National Weather Service in 1994 at the Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in St. Louis, MO, as a student trainee. Throughout her career, she worked at several WFOs, including in Ft. Wayne, IN (Meteorologist), Indianapolis, IN (Meteorologist), Topeka, KS (Lead Forecaster), Sioux Falls, SD (MIC), and St. Louis, MO (MIC).


Sally has also served as an advisor to the NWS Director, NOAA Policy Advisor for Weather and Satellites and as the Liaison to FEMA, embedded at FEMA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and participated in several national-scale projects. She was the management representative on the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiation team, which resulted in a successfully updated Collective Bargaining Agreement. In addition, she served as Deputy Project Lead for the Operations and Workforce Analysis project, which helped identify key strategies to evolve the NWS towards the future, and was a member of the Building Courage and Culture Tiger Team, focused on addressing office culture issues that impact women in the NWS.


Sally, a resident of Kansas City, MO, with her two children and three cats, is a graduate of St. Louis University and has a B.S. degree in Aeronautical Science - Meteorology. In 2023, she was awarded the St. Louis University Alumni Merit Award, which is given to distinguished graduates in recognition of their outstanding achievement, dedication to a chosen profession and commitment to the mission of the University.

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