Severe storms are possible with a threat of severe gusts, large hail, and flash flooding across the Upper Midwest. Severe weather may be a concern from the north/central Plains into the Upper Midwest through the weekend. Elevated fire weather concerns will persist in the West with red flag warnings in effect. Read More >
The central communications switching system (called the Gateway) is a major component of the Telecommunications Operations Center's, National Weather Service Telecommunication Gateway (NWSTG). The organizational management is through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS), Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).
The Gateway is the primary data communications switching system of the NWS. It is a global destributor of weather messages in support of the NWS commitment to the WMO World-Wide data exchange structure, therefore, the Gateway maintains a recognition system for all weather data and products for purposes of exchange to global customers. This Center is a Region Telecommunication Hub (RTH) of the WMO Global Telecommunication System (GTS) communications network. The Gateway is the World Area Forecast Center (WAFC) distribution system for the World Area Forecast System (WAFS). The WAFS distribution is through a satellite broadcast to geographical areas located over two-thirds of the globe.
The Gateway provides national and global near real-time data exchange services using automated communication resources, transmitting a wide variety of environmental data types. The Gateway is operated twenty four hours a day to acquire, process observations, construct messages, and disseminate messages and files of observations, model analysis, and forecast products. The time-perishable products are disseminated cyclically according to fixed schedules. The Gateway is committed to maintaining a timely and reliable transmission of products at the highest level.
The Gateway is the data source for the Family of Services (FOS) data distribution and the data broadcast to the Emergency Managers Information Network (EMWIN).
