You are browsing the archive for NWS Archives - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
12 December 2019
NWS Makes Needed Changes to Flash Flood Warnings
What is the number one weather killer in the United States? Did you say tornadoes or hurricanes? If so, you are wrong, but don’t feel bad because everyone misses this question. What IS the main weather killer? In most years it is heat but close behind is floods and particularly flash floods. It seems that nearly every year brings a flood event with great damage and several fatalities. Then there’s …
10 June 2016
Oklahoma Congressman’s Idea to Privatize NWS Forecasts Gets Icy Reception among Broadcast Meteorologists.
I’m hearing a lot of talk among my fellow forecasters today about legislation (introduced by an Oklahoma congressman) that would privatize many forecast functions of the NWS. You might think that private sector meteorologists would support this, but almost every broadcast metr. I know has panned the idea. The quality of public weather forecasts is due to the cooperation between the public and private sector, and a survey of comments by …
6 January 2015
Major Advance For Weather Prediction In The U.S.
This is a guest Post from University of Washington Professor of Atmospheric Sciences Cliff Mass. It is a re-post from his popular blog here. This is important. Today, NOAA’s administrator Kathryn Sullivan announced that the National Weather Service will acquire two very powerful CRAY supercomputers to support U.S. numerical weather prediction. A machine that will FINALLY allow the U.S. to do world-class forecasting. (The press release is here). In a number …
27 April 2013
Reprint of NWS Announcement That Dual Pole Radar Upgrade is Complete.
NOAA’s National Weather Service completes Doppler radar upgrades Advanced technology proves valuable during severe weather April 25, 2013 Dual-pol data shows what type of precipitation is falling based on its shape.Download here (Credit: NOAA) This week, the National Weather Servicecompleted the dual-polarization technology update in Brownsville, Texas – concluding the 122 NWS radar site upgrades throughout the country. This new advanced technology is helping federal weather forecasters more accurately track, assess and …
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.