NWS Weather Forecast Offices Generally Perform Well, but Regional Oversight and Management at Some Offices Need to be Improved

摘要

The National Weather Service, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, operates 121 weather forecast offices (WFOs) nationwide. Each WFO issues general weather forecasts and warnings of severe weathersuch as tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, floods, hurricanes, and extreme winter weatherfor its assigned county warning area. WFOs use both technologyradar, satellite, and automated surface observing systemsand professional staff to prepare forecasts and issue warnings and to help ensure the provision of timely and accurate weather information to the citizens in their county warning areas. During 2000 and 2001, the Office of Inspector General conducted comprehensive inspections of 4 WFOsRaleigh, North Carolina; San Angelo, Texas; Missoula, Montana; and Chanhassen, Minnesotato determine how effectively the WFOs (1) delivered warnings, forecasts, and other information to their service users; (2) coordinated their activities with state and local emergency managers; (3) managed their network of volunteer observers and spotters; and (4) managed their resources and maintained adequate administrative controls to comply with Department of Commerce, NOAA, and NWS policies and procedures. We also evaluated NWSs regional oversight of its WFOs. Our overall assessment of the WFOs we evaluated was that they generally provide effective weather products and services but need to improve administrative operations and oversight. They also need regular and consistent attention from NWS regional and WFO managers to ensure adherence to Commerce and federal administrative guidelines. To determine whether the issues we identified for these 4 WFOs were applicable to other weather offices, we conducted limited reviews of 10 additional WFOs (shown in the box below) from all six NWS regions from September 2001 through March 2002. This report presents our crosscutting observations and recommendations based on our review of all 14 WFOs, including updated information on our comprehensive inspections of 4 WFOs.