The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploration, and managing fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the US exclusive economic zone. The agency is part of the United States Department of Commerce and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 30th parallel north in the northeast Pacific Ocean and the 31st parallel north in the northern Atlantic Ocean. The agency, which is co-located with the Miami branch of the National Weather Service, is situated on the campus of Florida International University in University Park, Miami, Florida.
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the purposes of protection, safety, and general information. It is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) branch of the Department of Commerce, and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, within the Washington metropolitan area. The agency was known as the United States Weather Bureau from 1890 until it adopted its current name in 1970.
NEXRAD or Nexrad is a network of 159 high-resolution S-band Doppler weather radars operated by the National Weather Service (NWS), an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the United States Department of Commerce, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) within the Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Air Force within the Department of Defense. Its technical name is WSR-88D.
A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the normal tidal level, and does not include waves.
The Weather Prediction Center (WPC), located in College Park, Maryland, is one of nine service centers under the umbrella of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), a part of the National Weather Service (NWS), which in turn is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Government. Until March 5, 2013, the Weather Prediction Center was known as the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC). The Weather Prediction Center serves as a center for quantitative precipitation forecasting, medium range forecasting, and the interpretation of numerical weather prediction computer models.
Isaac Monroe Cline was the chief meteorologist at the Galveston, Texas, office of the U.S. Weather Bureau, now known as the National Weather Service, from 1889 to 1901. In that role, he became a central figure in the devastating Galveston hurricane of 1900. The Isaac M. Cline Award, the NWS's highest honor, is named due to his "numerous contributions to the mission of the Weather Bureau" and is "one of the most recognized employees in weather service history."
Britt Max Mayfield is an American meteorologist who served as the director of the National Hurricane Center from 2000 to 2007. As director, Mayfield became a trusted voice in preparing for weather-related disasters, particularly those involving tropical storms and hurricanes.
Timothy Patrick Marshall is an American structural and forensic engineer as well as meteorologist, concentrating on damage analysis, particularly that from wind, hail, and other weather phenomena. He is also a pioneering storm chaser and was editor of Storm Track magazine.
Robert H. Simpson was an American meteorologist, hurricane specialist, first director of the National Hurricane Research Project (NHRP) from 1955 to 1959, and a former director (1967–1974) of the National Hurricane Center (NHC). He was the co-developer of the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale with Herbert Saffir. His wife was Joanne Simpson.
Xavier William Proenza was the Southern Region Director of the United States National Weather Service from 1999–2007 and 2007–2013. He was also previously the director of the National Hurricane Center (NHC) from January 4, 2007 to July 9, 2007.
Robert Allen "Bob" Case was a meteorologist who worked for the National Weather Service (NWS) for 28 years. Over the course of his career, he worked in NWS various offices, developing a diverse background in various types of weather forecasting, including a lengthy stint as a hurricane forecaster. He is best known for inspiring the naming of the 1991 Perfect Storm as The Perfect Storm.
National Weather Service - Shreveport, LA (SHV) is one of 122 weather forecast offices around the United States. It is responsible for issuing public and aviation forecasts and warning for South Central and Southwestern Arkansas, Southeastern Oklahoma, and Eastern and Northeastern Texas Counties, as well as for North Central and Northwestern Louisiana Parishes. It is co-located with a weather radar (KSHV) of the NEXRAD network and an upper air sounding facility. It controls the issuance of weather information and bulletins on a certain number of NOAA Weather Radio.
Hurricane Debra was a destructive tropical cyclone that developed during the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season. The fifth tropical storm and third hurricane of the season, Debra originated from the interaction of a cold-core low and a tropical wave on July 15. The system was designated a tropical depression on July 23 when it was south of Louisiana and meandered westward while it swiftly intensified into a tropical storm along the Gulf Coast of the United States. A turn towards the northwest became evident as it attained Category 1 hurricane status on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale the following day while it organized into a developed storm. As the hurricane curved northward at a slow forward speed, strength was maintained as it approached the coast of Texas as a minimal hurricane. It came ashore during the evening of July 24 local time between Freeport and Galveston, Texas. It rapidly weakened into a tropical storm and later a depression as it moved inland, and dissipated on July 28 while it turned northwestward. The remnant moisture later sparked upper-level thunderstorms in late July and early August.
Richard 'Rick' Knabb is an American meteorologist who served as the 11th Director of the National Hurricane Center from June 4, 2012 to May 12, 2017. On March 21, 2017, Knabb announced his return to The Weather Channel as the tropical weather expert which was the position he held from 2010 to 2012.
A hurricane local statement (HLS) is a weather statement produced for the public by the local Weather Forecast Offices of the National Weather Service in the U.S. for areas affected or forecast to be affected by a tropical storm or hurricane that provides an overview of the storm's local effects, including expected weather conditions, evacuation decisions made by local officials, and precautions necessary to protect life and property. The National Weather Services considers the HLS to be the "flagship product" available to Weather Forecast Offices for outlining tropical cyclone watches and warnings and impacts, and is their most visible product during such events. Descriptions of the affected areas, relevant tropical cyclone watches and warnings, recommendations for precautionary measures, and expected timing and severity of possible threats are typically included in an HLS. The HLS can incorporate projected impacts from pre-written descriptions tailored for different storm intensities; these template descriptions were developed in the 1990s and became widely available to forecasters for use in the HLS by 2001. The bulletin issued by the Weather Forecast Office in Slidell, Louisiana, as Hurricane Katrina approached on August 28, 2005, known as "The Bulletin", was lauded by the National Weather Service as having further encouraged vulnerable individuals to evacuate. Not all forecast offices can issue an HLS.
Kenneth Graham is an American meteorologist and the director of the National Weather Service. Graham previously was the director of the National Hurricane Center from 2018 to 2022. Prior to that, he was the lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in New Orleans / Baton Rouge.
Louis Uccellini is a meteorologist and former director of the US National Weather Service (NWS) from 2013 to 2022. He was also director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and served as the Permanent Representative of the United States for the World Meteorological Organization.
This is a timeline of scientific and technological advancements as well as notable academic or government publications in the area of atmospheric sciences and meteorology during the 21st century. Some historical weather events are included that mark time periods where advancements were made, or even that sparked policy change.
