The National Weather Service in NC
The National Weather Service's (NWS) mission is provides 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. NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure which can be used by other governmental agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global community.
The National Weather Service in NC accomplishes that mission in a large variety of ways. A few of the latest Weather Service activities in the Carolinas can be found below.
SWAN - Simulating WAves Nearshore
High resolution (Credit: WFO Morehead City)
The National Weather Service offices in Morehead City, NC , Wilmington, NC, and Wakefield, VA are collaborating with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the US Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck, NC to improve near shore wave forecasting across the Carolinas and Virginia. The project involves implementing a next generation high shore wave model known as Simulating WAves Nearshore, or SWAN for short, for the waters off the Mid Atlantic and Southeast coasts. The objectives of this project include:
- Using forecaster value added winds to drive a high resolution near shore wave model.
- Incorporating near shore physical processes such as refraction, dissipation, and wave shadowing into NWS' Coastal Water Forecasts and NWS graphical forecasts.
- Developing effective forecasts of the wave hazards in the major inlets and bays.
- Improving rip current forecasts.
- Validating the SWAN model and NOAA Wavewatch 3 output against local buoy observations.
Marine interests across the Mid Atlantic and Southeast states play a large role in local and national economies given the significant amount of commercial and recreational marine activities that occur in the area. Improving NWS wave forecasts through this project will undoubtedly lead to better safety and planning of these activities.
University Collaboration
NOAA research benefits greatly from university collaboration. NOAA's National Weather Service Forecast Offices work with universities to learn more about weather, water, and climate. This collaboration highlights NOAA's Strategic Plan strategy of working with universities to create and leverage partnerships that foster more effective information services. In the case of WFO Raleigh, located on the campus of North Carolina State University, collaborative research activities have several purposes, including:
- The promotion of research aimed at applying meteorological and hydrological knowledge to the solution of forecast problems.
- Fostering public understanding of NOAA and its programs.
- Preparing NCSU students for productive careers in the NWS by offering training and experience.
High resolution (Credit: WFO Raleigh)
For over 15 years, WFO Raleigh and NCSU have collaborated in NOAA-funded research, while involving other WFOs in the mid-Atlantic and the Carolinas. Our research has helped understand problems such as precipitation forecasting, heavy rainfall and tornadoes associated with tropical cyclones, cold air damming on the east side of the Appalachians, the effects of storm surge and sea breezes, and winter weather forecasting. In addition, WFO Raleigh and NCSU conduct an annual internship course for meteorology majors interested in a career in operational weather forecasting. Internship activities include job shadowing, weather analysis, development of weather and storm summaries, and participation in NWS operations during weather events.
NWS offices are also partnering in other OneNOAA research projects, including the Coastal and Inland Flooding Observation and Warning Project.
More information is available on NWS/NCSU collaboration. Past summaries of significant weather events in central North Carolina, many showing research knowledge gained and lessons learned can be found on WFO Raleigh's Event Summaries Page.
High resolution (Credit: Steve Pfaff)
Rip Current Awareness
The National Weather Service offices in the Carolinas, and other locations along our Nation's coast, provide daily rip current forecasts. These forecasts highlight areas of the coastline where the risk for strong rip currents is either low, moderate, or high. The forecasts are collaborated with local lifeguards on a daily basis, and they provide "sea truth" information about surf height and rip current activity. In turn, the reports are utilized by NWS forecasters to verify the forecasts.
Providing the public with a rip current outlook is only one facet of the NWS Rip Current Program. Another large part of the program is the promotion of rip current awareness to the local populations and the thousands of tourists that visit the beaches of North and South Carolina. Since 80% of all surf rescues are related to rip currents, a large effort has been taken to educate the public so that they know what actions should be taken if a rip current is encountered. There has been collaboration on the national level between the NWS, SeaGrant, and the United States Life Saving Association to promote the Break the Grip of the Rip safety campaign.
Meanwhile in the Carolinas local partnerships have been formed between the coastal NWS offices, lifeguard agencies, beach services, public school systems, and local government leadership. In particular, the NWS Office in Wilmington created the Rip Current Awareness Strategies Team (RCAST) to develop ways to promote rip current awareness at the individual beach communities and in the schools. Specific RCAST accomplishments include:
- An educators' resource page, that includes educational materials for all levels.
- A rip current safety outreach program which has reached at least 2,500 people in the coastal region.
- A rip current and beach safety piece that appeared on NBC's Today Show.