For/Against a Weather Commission

A national discussion is happening in the weather community.... not a public discussion necessarily, but a conversation that might have an impact on how you receive weather information in the future.  The conversation is based on whether a Weather Commission needs to be formed, or if the weather needs of the nation can be addressed by the three pronged face of the nation's weather.  Those three are academia, the private sector, and the public sector, all working together (loosley) through organizations like the National Weather Association, the American Meteorological Society, and advocacy groups like the Weather Coalition, and others.  How will you be best served?

 The National Weather Service began a national weather initiative called Weather Ready Nation after the major weather outbreaks of 2011.  The goal of the project is to make more and more people, businesses and families weather aware before during and after the larger weather events that occur in the nation.

Companies like WeatherCall are part of making families and organizations more resilient to weather events by providing notifications of severe weather weather before they occur.  This allows people time to activate their personal and business weather plans.  Now, if when you receive a warning of impending weather you don't have a plan to activate, we encourage you to develop one for your family and your business.  One place to go to help you make that plan is FEMA's website, Ready.gov.

A Weather Commission would eventually become a Congressional appointment supported federal government entity to speak to Congress about the nation's weather needs.  The discussion within the weather industry is whether the existing organizations and weather initiatives across the country are sufficient enough to make the nation more resilient to weather events that occur every year in the nation.  Part of the concern of an organization called the Weather Coalition in forming a Weather Commission is the environment of what is deemed to be a toxic political environment, and putting the nation's weather concerns under the guidance of a newly formed governmental organization.  Those concerned  believe that unless a commission is formed with a very specific set of goals would slow down the nation's planning and response to weather events.  Those who support it think that by creating a commission, the leaders in Congress would be more positively influenced to support the nation's weather initiatives, including NOAA and the National Weather Service financially in an environment of budget cutting and restrictions.

What most of the public is unaware of is the nation's aging weather infrastructure, of satellites, weather instruments, computer networks, and weather observation capabilities.  So with all those concerns, the discussion continues in whether the existing weather initiatives are more influential in making the nation more Weather Ready, or if a political commission would more fully influence the continued budgetary support of the governmental controlled NOAA, NWS, and all their affiliates, which are the data providers for the hundreds of weather companies who are the backbone of the nation's daily weather products.

Brad Huffines

Meteorologist/National Notification Consultant, Media/Industry/Web, WeatherCall

Adjunct Instructor of Emergency Public Information / Meteorolgy, FEMA Emergency Management Institute