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The National Weather Service (NWS) is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States government. It is tasked with providing "weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy." This is done through a collection of national and regional centers, and more than 122 local weather forecast offices (WFOs). Since the NWS is a government agency, most of its products are available free of charge.
History
The NWS was founded on February 9th, 1870 through a joint congressional resolution signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. The mission of the NWS was "to provide for taking meteorological observations at the military stations in the interior of the continent and at other points in the States and Territories...and for giving notice on the northern (Great) Lakes and on the seacoast by magnetic telegraph and marine signals, of the approach and force of storms."*
Forecasting
The NWS issues a comprehensive package of forecast products to support a variety of users, including the general public. Although text forecasts have been the primary means of product dissemination, the NWS has been converting its forecast products to a digital, gridded format. Each of the 122 Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) send their graphical forecasts to a national server to be compiled in the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). This is a collection of sensible weather elements such as: maximum and minimum temperature, humidity, cloud cover, probability of precipitation, weather type, and wind direction and speed. In addition to viewing (gridded weather data via the internet, more advanced users can decode the individual grids using a "GRIB2 decoder" which can output data as shapefiles, netCDF, GrADS, float files, and comma separated variable files. Specific points in the digital database can be accessed using an XML SOAP service ([http://www.weather.gov/xml/). These capabilities have greatly increased the audience of NDFD data. The NWS has received some criticism from commercial weather vendors for providing graphical forecast data free of charge. They argue that such tailored forecast information compete with their own products. However, a large majority of private weather firms quickly realized its potential benefits and have flourished by using the NDFD as a tool for composing their products. More on [ National Weather Service ]
Weather Phenomena :: Meteorology
Preparedness :: Natural Disasters and Hazards
SPC - No watches are valid as of Wed Dec 16 12:52:05 UTC 2009
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:51:06 -0000
No watches are valid as of Wed Dec 16 12:52:05 UTC 2009.
SPC - No MDs are in effect as of Wed Dec 16 12:52:05 UTC 2009
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:51:06 -0000
No Mesoscale Discussions are in effect as of Wed Dec 16 12:52:05 UTC 2009.
SPC Dec 16, 2009 1300 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:51:18 -0000
SPC 1300Z Day 1 Outlook DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0648 AM CST WED DEC 16 2009 VALID 161300Z - 171200Z ...NO SVR TSTM AREAS FORECAST... ...SYNOPSIS/FORECAST... LOW AMPLITUDE TO ZONAL FLOW WILL PREVAIL OVER MOST OF THE NATION THIS PERIOD. AN EXCEPTION WILL BE OVER TX AND THE NWRN GULF...WHERE SLOWLY-MOVING SRN STREAM DISTURBANCE NOW OVER NRN CHIHUAHUA GRADUALLY WILL BECOME RE-ABSORBED INTO THE WLYS. AT THE SFC...COLD FRONT THAT MOVED ACROSS THE GULF CST AND SERN STATES YESTERDAY WILL CONTINUE TO SETTLE SLOWLY S ACROSS THE FL PENINSULA. THE BOUNDARY WILL LOSE DEFINITION AS IT ENCOUNTERS Read more
SPC Day 1 Fire Weather Outlook
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:42:32 -0000
SPC Day 1 Fire Weather Outlook DAY 1 FIRE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0139 AM CST WED DEC 16 2009 VALID 161200Z - 171200Z ...NO CRITICAL AREAS... ...SYNOPSIS... A S/W TROUGH IS FORECAST TO LIFT ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ON WEDNESDAY...WHILE SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE LOCATED UPSTREAM OF THIS FEATURE TRANSLATES E-SEWD ACROSS THE OH VALLEY REGION. OFFSHORE FLOW WILL PREDOMINATE SOUTH OF THE SURFACE HIGH...ADVECTING DRY AIR INTO THE SERN CONUS. THOUGH PORTIONS OF THE REGION MAY EXPERIENCE LATE MORNING-AFTERNOON RH VALUES IN THE 30S...RECENT PRECIPITATION IN ADDITION TO GENERALLY LIGHT SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS AND RELATIVELY COOL TEMPERATURES SHOULD PRECLUDE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. FARTHER WEST...HIGH PRESSURE IS STILL FORECAST TO MIGRATE EWD AWAY Read more
SPC Day 2 Fire Weather Outlook
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:42:58 -0000
SPC Day 2 Fire Weather Outlook DAY 2 FIRE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0141 AM CST WED DEC 16 2009 VALID 171200Z - 181200Z ...NO CRITICAL AREAS... ...SYNOPSIS... SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE IS FORECAST TO APPROACH THE ATLANTIC COAST ON THURSDAY...WITH WEAK NELY TO ELY WINDS DEVELOPING FROM THE ERN CAROLINAS ACROSS GA AND INTO MS...AND SLY FLOW OVER THE TN/OH VALLEY REGION. DRY AIR EMANATING FROM THE SURFACE HIGH WILL ONCE AGAIN RESULT IN POTENTIALLY LOW RH VALUES IN THE 30-50 PERCENT RANGE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SERN CONUS AND SRN APPALACHIANS...BUT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BE MINIMIZED DUE TO WEAK SUSTAINED WINDS AND GENERALLY COOL TEMPERATURES. MEANWHILE ALONG THE W COAST...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO AMPLIFY. HIGH PRESSURE Read more
SPC Day 3-8 Fire Weather Outlook
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:06:26 -0000
SPC Day 3-8 Fire Weather Outlook DAY 3-8 FIRE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0305 AM CST WED DEC 16 2009 VALID 181200Z - 241200Z ...DISCUSSION... AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS FORECAST TO BE PRESENT ACROSS THE W COAST ON FRIDAY/DAY 3 THROUGH SUNDAY/DAY 5 BEFORE BREAKING DOWN BY MONDAY/DAY 6 WITH THE APPROACH OF A TROUGH ENTERING THE PAC NW. IN THE MEANTIME...HIGH PRESSURE LOCATED OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST WILL FAVOR OFFSHORE FLOW ACROSS SRN CA...CHARACTERIZED BY MILD TEMPERATURES AND LOW RH VALUES. FARTHER EAST...A COLD LOW LEVEL AIRMASS WILL BE MAINTAINED ACROSS THE ERN-SERN STATES AS S/W TROUGHS DROP SWD ALONG THE WRN PERIPHERY OF A CLOSED UPPER LEVEL LOW POSITIONED OVER THE NERN CONUS. CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE CURRENTLY NOT ANTICIPATED WITH THIS PATTERN. FORECAST UNCERTAINTY THEN INCREASES SUBSTANTIALLY BEYOND MONDAY/DAY 6 AS DETERMINISTIC Read more
StormWatch United States - Provides updated satellite, radar, and forecasts. Includes severe weather watches, warnings, and advisories.
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satellite, radar, and forecasts. StormWatch severe weather watches, warnings & advisories updated every 10 minutes. ]
Disaster News Network - Timely disaster news and information.
Meta Description: [ Through original reporting, Disaster News Network (DNN) tells the story of response to disasters and suggests appropriate ways the public can help survivors. ]
Extreme Temperatures - Recorded from hundreds of localities around the world.
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National Weather Service: Warnings Area - Immediate access to all available warnings for the United States, including tornado, hurricane, and winter weather warnings.
National Weather Service: Active Warnings - Current weather warnings and special weather advisories from the National Weather Service.
National Weather Service: Climate Prediction Center - Long-range assessment of weather threats, including drought, heavy rain, tropical systems and El Nino/La Nina events.
National Weather Service: Storm Prediction Center - Provides updated severe weather information.
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Weather Advisory Browser - Features current National Weather Server advisories, watches, and warnings.
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