San Angelo Weather Forecast Office Performs Its Core Responsibilites Well, but Office Management and Regional Oversight Need Improvement

摘要

National Weather Service (NWS), an agency within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has 121 Weather Forecast Offices nationwide. Each Weather Forecast Office (WFO) issues local weather forecasts and warnings of severe weather such as tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, floods, hurricanes, and extreme winter weather for its assigned counties. The San Angelo office was opened in October 1947 under the Weather Bureau as a Weather Service Office. In July 1999, the office converted to a Weather Forecast Office, which currently has a staff of 22 and services a warning area covering 24 counties. At the time of our visit, there was one satellite office in Abilene, but it subsequently closed on December 19, 2000. The WFO uses various technology and programs to help protect the citizens in its county warning area. Radar, satellite, and automated surface observation systems are used to prepare forecasts and issue warnings for all types of severe weather. NWS commissioned the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System in San Angelo on July 6, 2000. This system, which integrates NWS meteorological and hydrological data with NWS satellite and radar data, is designed to enable forecasters to prepare and issue more accurate and timely forecasts and warnings. In performing our review, we examined pertinent records and documents and interviewed all of the staff at the San Angelo WFO. We also spoke by telephone with the regional director in Fort Worth, and interviewed many representatives from the Department and other federal, state, and local government agencies. We also interviewed individuals outside of government involved in meteorological activities to obtain their assessment of the services provided by the San Angelo WFO, as well as to elicit any suggestions they had for improving the WFOs conveyance of critical weather information.