Thanks Team: Big Accomplishments in 04

As 2004 winds down, I am reflecting on all that we have accomplished working with each other and our partners throughout the weather, water, and climate community. Thanks for your hard work. I am impressed by your dedication and as a federal agency, how much we contribute to the safety and well-being of America. Things I will remember this year - my first year as your Director - include the first-class services we provided for extreme events - hurricanes, drought, record numbers of tornadoes, and the Alaska fire season. We have tripled our supercomputing power and have launched the world's first Climate Forecast System. We have helped move research to operations and strengthened ocean observations with the TAO array now part of our armada. We've expanded our suite of environment products with a new Air Quality Forecast and have gone digital with three elements official and three more on the way. The following summaries provide details on some - not all - of our most memorable 2004 accomplishments:

• NOAA Issues New Partnership Policy
• Outstanding Performance by NOAA in an Active 2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season
• Three National Digital Forecast Database Elements Become Official
• Air Quality Forecasts Now Operational in Northeast United States
• NWS Introduces New Climate Forecast Model
• NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards Network Helps Save Lives When Tornado Hits Manufacturing Plant
• NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards Network: Partnerships with Homeland Security, Consumer Electronics Association
• Flash Flood and Monitoring Prediction Helps Pinpoint Warnings in Pennsylvania Storm
• NEXRAD Level II Radar Data Made Available in Real Time
• NWS Changes Long-Lead Forecasts Release Time to Meet Commodities Market Needs
• Alaskan Wildfire Season the Worst in State's History
• Teamwork Saves Lives When Highway Bridge Collapses

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Alaska Region Gets New Director

Alaska Region Director Laura Furgione

By Tracey Lake
NWS Alaska Region Public Affairs

The NWS's newest regional director has held jobs in three out of six NWS regions and has quickly worked her way through the ranks into the position of Alaska Region Director.

Laura Furgione graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1993 with a degree in atmospheric science. Her career has taken her from the Pacific Region, to the Alaska Region, to the Eastern Region and back to Alaska. When she moved from Alaska to Morehead City, NC, she wanted the opportunity to network with other regions and customers. The networking was automatic for her but she was also able to experience working with every kind of weather - tornadoes, thunderstorms, hurricanes, snow, and floods.

"Her career demonstrates that employees can rise to the top and balance family and worklife," said Brig. Gen. D.L. Johnson, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), NWS Director. "Alaska is a state with significant environmental challenges. Ms. Furgione is charged with providing timely, accurate, and focused environmental information to protect our citizen's lives, protect property, and enhance the economy. She has a tremendous responsibility - at home raising newborn twins, and at work, providing timely, accurate weather, water, and climate information for Alaskans. I'm certain she is up to the challenge."

Furgione's plans for Alaska and the NWS are simple. She intends to keep people abreast of the unique challenges the Alaska Region brings to the weather service. She adds that we can always improve our relationships with customers and partner agencies.

"We need to strategically work with our customers and collaboratively determine how their needs may change," Furgione says. "It is now 2004; by 2014 everything will be different."

Gary Hufford, regional scientist for the Alaska Region, believes Furgione's diverse background has given her the experience and perspective she needs to accomplish the weather service mission.

"Laura exemplifies the new generation of young people coming into the National Weather Service and moving the organization forward," Hufford said.

Currently on maternity leave (she gave birth to twins Ethan and Elizabeth on October 12, 2004), Furgione's days revolve around the daily chores and blessings of caring for two infants. She will return to her duties as Regional Director in January 2005.

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NOAA Offices Unite for National Science Teachers Association Outreach Effort

NOAA representatives (from left to right): Ron Gird (NWS), Susan Baker (NOS/NCCOS), John Simensky (NWS), Joyce Gross (NOAA/OESD), Robert C. Hansen (NOAA/PA), and Neil A. Stuart (NWS) participated in the annual National Science Teachers Association Convention in Richmond, VA.

During the first week of December, over 2,300 science teachers convened at the Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, VA, for the National Science Teachers Association's annual convention. NOAA took an active role this year with a centrally-placed display booth staffed by a cross-section of outreach experts providing science teachers with a seamless view of NOAA's role as environmental steward and leader in science research and forecasting.

"The teachers' strong appreciation for the water, weather, and climate services NOAA provided was very evident in the many positive comments received during the convention. Most teachers were familiar with NOAA's mission and work," said Neil A. Stuart from the Wakefield, VA, Weather Forecast Office (WFO).

Popular items among the teachers were lists of online NOAA Education Resources, NWS cloud identification posters, hazardous weather preparedness CDs and brochures, Owlie Skywarn and Chesapeake Bay activity books for children, and marine estuary conservation posters. Enthusiastic science teachers engaged NOAA personnel in detailed discussions about past significant storms, long-range forecasting, methods of forecast verification, marine science, and climate fluctuations.

"This was a great opportunity for NOAA'S NWS to reach science teachers who have a major affect on the next generation from their earliest stage of development. It was an invaluable outreach effort that our local office enthusiastically supported," said Tony Siebers, WFO Wakefield Meteorologist-In-Charge.

"Our strong outreach commitment to science teachers will continue throughout the year. Some of our future goals include more formal presentations of NOAA educational resources at future conferences, working on joint teacher education initiatives, and broadening NOAA's overall participation in NSTA conferences and exhibits," said NOAA's Joyce Gross, National Outreach Coordinator of NOAA's Office of Educational and Sustainable Development.

NOAA participation in this outreach event included Stuart and Gross; Robert C. Hansen from NOAA Constituent Affairs; Ron Gird and John Simensky from NWS Headquarters Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services; and Susan Baker from the National Ocean Service/National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.

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November Issue of The Front Released

The NWS Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services, Aviation Service Branch has released the November issue of The Front, an aviation newsletter for the NWS partners and customers. Articles in this edition include: National Weather Service TAF, Forecaster's Perspective; Future of Aviation Forecast and Preparation System (AvnFPS); National Digital Forecast Database and Aerial Application.

To download a copy, go to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/aviation/pdfs/front-nov04.pdf.

To get on the subscriber list for email notifications, contact melody.magnus@noaa.gov.

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Amateur Radio Operators Participate In Skywarn Recognition Day

WFO Caribou Skywarn Recognition Day participants included from left to right, Gene Giddings, callsign AA1XD; Richard Beausoleil, callsign N1REX; and Bill Akins, callsign W1LEE. Ham Operator Gale Flagg and Lead Forecaster Michael Fitzsimmons also stayed for the whole 24 hour event. In the photo, Giddings is using the 20-meter band while Beausoleil is monitoring the 15-meter band. WFO Caribou reported making over 300 contacts, and couldn't have done it without the Skywarn members who volunteered to drive for hours to Caribou to help out. Photo by Meteorologist Intern Alex Calderon.

The NWS sponsored SKYWARN Recognition Day on December 4, 2004, in cooperation with the Amateur Radio Relay League. The event, in its sixth year, recognizes the vital public service contribution that amateur radio operators, commonly known as HAMs, make during NWS severe weather warning operations. The HAM radio operators are volunteers who give their time and use of their equipment as a public service.

Nationwide, nearly 100 NWS forecast offices participated in Skywarn Recognition Day, along with the National Hurricane Center and the Canadian Prairie Storm Prediction Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

During the event, HAMs attempt to contact as many other NWS offices and amateur radio stations as possible.

In actual severe weather emergencies, HAMs operate base station at local Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) and gather reports of severe weather from around the state and pass along NWS watches and warnings. Many HAMs also are certified storm spotters.

Little Rock, AR, participants in Skywarn Recognition Day included (from front): Mare Simonar-Dykes, callsign KC5ETZ, Ms. Wheelchair Arkansas 2004-05; Fred Shay, callsign N2JAS; John McIntosh, callsign KB5YUB; and Benjamin Muller, callsign KD5RLQ. Shay was on hand for the entire 24 hours! Photo by WFO Little Rock Warning Coordination Meteorologist John Robinson.

On October 18, 2004, Little Rock, AR, HAMs provided the WFO with some of the first damage reports from the tornadoes that struck Haskell, AR, Sardis, MS, and Arkansas's Stuttgart Airport, according to WFO Little Rock Warning Coordination Meteorologist John Robinson. During the devastating tornado outbreak of January, 1999, reports of tornado touchdowns from the HAMs proved invaluable. Their information provided a starting point for many of the NWS storm surveys. It is likely that some of the tornado tracks would never have been found had it not been for the reports the HAMs provided.

"When widespread communications outages occur, HAMs set up emergency communications networks," Robinson said. "If a large earthquake were to occur along the New Madrid Fault, which runs from Illinois to eastern Arkansas, many normal communications circuits would be likely to fail. If such a situation occurred, the HAMs would be able to link NWS offices via radio."

Additional information on SKYWARN Recognition Day can be found on the Internet at http://hamradio.noaa.gov.

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NWS Snapshots

Click here for a look at photos we've received from around the NWS.

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