Links to the telecommunication standards documentation and descriptions of the Center

Great Lakes Snow through Friday; High Winds in the Northern and Central Plains

A clipper storm will drop south from Canada today bringing wintry weather from the Upper Midwest to the Great Lakes through Friday. This system is expected to bring strong northerly winds to much of the northern and central High Plains this afternoon through Friday, with gusts up to 60 mph expected. Read More >

WMO / OMM

The The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the The United Nations (UN) of which 179 States and 6 Territories are Members. It was created:

To facilitate worldwide cooperation in the establishment of networks of stations for making meteorological observations as well as hydrological and other geophysical observations related to meteorology, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of centers charged with the provision of meteorological and related services;

To promote the establishment and maintenance of systems for the rapid exchange of meteorological and related information;

To promote standardization of meteorological and related observations and to ensure the uniform publication of observations and statistics;

To further the application of meteorology to aviation, shipping, water problems, agriculture and other human activities;

To promote activities in operational hydrology and to further close co-operation between Meteorological and hydrological Services;

To encourage research and training in meteorology and, as appropriate, in related fields, and to assist in coordinating the international aspects of such research and training.

In support of the communications aspects of the WMO World Weather Watch, the National Weather Service uses the Gateway in supporting the WMO. This is accomplished by operating the WMO Region IV "Regional Telecommunication Hub" (RTH) on the Global Telecommunication System. The RTH collects regional data and products and switches onto the GTS all meteorological data and products received as required through prior established data requirements.

The WMO Member countries have a Commission for Basic Systems (CBS) meeting every two years, in which new code recommendated changes, telecommunication protocol recommendations, and Abbreviated Heading Table updates are approved. After approval these changes are entered into the WMO codes manual 306 and 386. The last meeting of CBS was held in Geneva, Switzerland. The final report of the 2000 CBS XII [1,025K pdf] attached record of actions contain the new recommendations and can be reviewed for the most current changes approved.