Showing posts with label NWS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NWS. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

NWS Open House A Win Win for Community And Volunteers


Photo Source: Joshua Kinard

Several volunteers from local Citizen Corps Council organizations, American Red Cross of the National Capital Area and Fairfax County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) were on hand at the National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington Forecast Office Open House.

Terry Akins, Judy Howell, Andrew Levy, Ian Sterne, and Margaret Fowke spoke about the value of these programs, how to prepare for a disaster, ways to volunteer, and training programs available to the public.

The weekend also provided the opportunity for the volunteers to see the operations of the forecast office. A couple of CERT members, including a current CERT student, also attended the Skywarn class that was offered during the open house.

Thank you to the NWS for providing the wind and cold front, and a special thanks for Margaret Fowke (NWS and Red Cross Volunteer) who provided a behind the scenes tour of the facility.

Friday, October 17, 2008

What does the National Weather Service really do?

If you are in the Washington, DC area this weekend and looking for something to do, why not check out



National Weather Service
Baltimore/Washington Forecast Office
Open House and Dedication
Saturday October 18th and Sunday October 19th

At the newly occcupied, brand new NWS Forecast Office
43858 Weather Service Road
Sterling, Virginia 20166
Free Parking On-Site

Directions to our new office can be found here


Things to do:
* Family Friendly with Demonstrations for the Kids
* Weather Balloon Launches every hour
* Get Registered as a NWS Spotter with our Basic Weather Spotter Class
* Tours of the NWS office
* Tours of NOAA's wind tunnel & environmental extreme chambers
* 4-5 pm each day: "Weather in Music and Prose" - A multimedia show combining computer imagery, poetry, and live music performance
* Watch Presentations by our Meteorologists to Learn About our Weather
* New Office Dedication Ceremony with Government Officials and NOAA/NWS Leadership at 1pm Saturday

SKYWARN™ Spotter classes will be offered at 2:00 PM Saturday, and 2:00 PM Sunday. Please click here to register! (Classes are limited to the first 75 participants for each day).

Representatives from the American Red Cross and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will also be on hand.

Additional information can be found here, http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/openhouse/