National Weather Service Employees Organization

Weather-Ready Nation Roadmap 2.0 is path forward for NWS

Weather Ready Nation 2.0 pdf document

Weather Ready Nation Link

Questions or comments on Roadmap 2.0 can be directed to NWS.Roadmap@noaa.gov.

(April 23, 2013) On Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in partnership with the National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO), the NWS will release the Weather-Ready Nation Roadmap 2.0.  The updated Roadmap blends an understanding of social and physical sciences and lends itself to building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather and water events. I’m confident that this updated version of the Roadmap will empower emergency managers, first responders, government officials, businesses, and the public to make faster, smarter decisions to save lives and protect livelihoods.

The WRN Roadmap 2.0 incorporates comments from the 2012 National Academy of Sciences study, NWSEO, NOAA and NWS leadership, NOAA employees, the Weather Enterprise, and the public.  This updated version is more inclusive of NWS international activities in underlying concepts, objectives, and goals across the entire document.  It reiterates a commitment to working with the Weather Enterprise and the plan provides the agency an ability to meet new challenges over the coming years through a flexible and agile business structure.  In addition, there are more details that capture the National Centers for Environmental Protection’s (NCEP) role in Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) in contributing to a Common Operating Picture across the NWS.
Following the loss of more than 1,000 lives and $55 billion in damage from powerful tornadoes and other storms in 2011, this Roadmap puts the NWS on a path to measure its efforts based on the extent to which people responded effectively to its warnings, and not solely by the accuracy and timeliness of its forecast. 

As employees of the NWS, I encourage you to read this document from cover-to-cover and recognize how we all, both individually and collectively, make a difference every day in creating a Weather-Ready Nation.  From 2009-2012, NOAA’s NWS deliv­ered lifesaving weather forecasts and warnings for an unprecedented spate of record-breaking weather: more than 770 major tornadoes; 70 Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms; 6 major floods; 3 tsunamis; historic drought in much of the United States; prolonged heat waves; and record snowfall and blizzards across the country. Constant improvements in our forecasting capabilities and the expertise of our meteorologists and hydrologists na­tionwide have enabled NWS to deliver warnings often with greater lead times and accuracy than ever before.

The Roadmap ensures the NWS remains relevant and timely in the provision of services and data to customers on impact based decisions related to weather.  As the process of implementing actions within the Roadmap continue, aspects will be incorporated into execution plans like the NOAA/NWS Annual Operating Plan, ongoing WRN Goal Planning, NOAA and NWS Research Plans and other appropriate mechanisms. The Roadmap is intended to be a living document and further refinements will be made as necessary. The active link will be available on April 24.

-NWSEO-

No one cares more for National Weather Service employees than
National Weather Service employees.

No one works harder for National Weather Service employees than
National Weather Service employees.
We are NWSEO.