Innovative Hydrologic Products
and Services from the
National Weather Service
Gregory P. Shelton
Service Coordination Hydrologist
NWS West Gulf River Forecast Center – Fort Worth, TX
Tracy Howieson
Hydrologic Services Program Manager
NWS Southern Region Headquarters – Fort Worth, TX
Overview
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Education/Outreach
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Products/Services
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Turn Around Don’t Drown®
High Water Mark Signs
Partnerships
Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service
Decision Support/Customer Involvement
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Decision Support Services
Societal Impacts Research
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Turn Around Don’t Drown®
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Campaign to raise public awareness of flood
hazards while driving
DOT Approved Road Signs
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Sign Guidelines can be found at:
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http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/SHSm/warning.pdf
http://tadd.weather.gov/road_signs.shtml
Available Signs:
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Incident Sign (magenta)
Warning Sign (yellow)
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Turn Around Don’t Drown®
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Signs deployed along flood prone roads
Example of Campaign Activities
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NWS Sign Deployment
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Oklahoma Floodplain Managers Association (OFMA)
Tennessee Sign Deployment
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Grant Opportunities for Emergency Managers, etc.
• Walmart
• State Farm Insurance
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TADD Information
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http://tadd.weather.gov/tadd-resources.shtml
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
High Water Mark Signs
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Campaign to raise community awareness of
local flood risk
Signs can be deployed anywhere in the
community
Signs communicate ways to receive river
information
HWM Information:

http://www.weather.gov/os/water/high_water/
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Example Sign
NWS Hydrologic Services
Wadley, AL
http://water.weather.gov
Current Sign Locations
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Utilizing Partnerships
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Increased need for outreach and education in
the Hydrologic Services Program
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Service Coordination Hydrologist
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Liaison with stakeholders and partners
Actively engage partners
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Texas Flash Flood Coalition
Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy
UNESCO - University of Iowa
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service
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Overhaul of NWS Hydrologic Services
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Mississippi Flood of 1993, Red River of the North Flood of 1997
Service and Science Enhancements
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River Forecast Services
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Flash Flood Services
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Depict spatial extent and depth of flood waters near NWS forecast points
47 points as of (04/2010)
Partnerships with FEMA, USGS, States, River Authorities, etc.
Dissemination Services
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Higher resolution modeling for fast responding rivers
Advanced tools to better identify risk and improve warning accuracy and lead time
Inundation Mapping Services
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Longer-range ensemble forecast technique to quantify forecast certainty
Projected completion in 2014 (2553 of 4011 forecast points as of 04/2010)
http://water.weather.gov
Outreach
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Biannual survey of key customers administered by CFI Group
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CSI for 2008 – 80 ( Government average – 68)
National Flood Safety Awareness Week (launched 2005)
Partnership with The Weather Channel® to develop educational videos
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Water’s Fury (2004)
Cyclone: Second Wave (2007)
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
http://water.weather.gov
AHPS
Web Portal
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Precipitation Data
National 24-Hour Precipitation Best Estimate
 Static zoom to states/regions
 Various time scales from 1 day to 1 year
 Normal, Departure from Normal, and
Percent of Normal graphics
Experimental Hourly Precipitation Best Estimate
 Google API maps
 Various time scales from 1 – 120 hours
 www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge2/RFC_Precip/
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
River Information
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
River Information
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Probabilistic Forecasts
90 day Exceedance Probability
NWS Hydrologic Services
Weekly Exceedance Histogram
http://water.weather.gov
90 Day Exceedance Example
Conditional stages higher than
“observed” stages…therefore
wetter than normal
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Weekly Histogram Example
75% chance of being
above flood stage 3
months from now
At 12z
9/17/2008
SOLT2
was
26.26ft
12 out of 50 times the
stage increased
above the simulation
starting stage (25%)
38 out of 50 times the
stage decreased from
the starting stage and
the starting stage was
always the maximum
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Flood Inundation Mapping
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Map types
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Full map with aerial
photo and predefined
height displayed
Overlays
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Predefined Levels
Flood Categories
Current Forecast
Street maps
Aerial photos
Map Tools
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Zoom
Mouse over for water depth
Export to multiple formats
(including shapefiles)
Current forecast zoomed
to forecast point
NWS Hydrologic Services
Flood categories
zoomed to nearby
neighborhood
http://water.weather.gov
Trinity River at Dallas
Current Observation:
38.38 FT at 11 UTC on
9/14/09
Forecast Stages
Current forecast
ordinates plotted
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
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Before Chat…
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Phone and e-mail
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Augment existing communications by bringing
stakeholders into the decision making process through a
one  many concept
Who’s Chatting?
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Are the right people getting the right information in a timely
manner?
Why Chat?
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NWSChat
Emergency Management, Federal, and Regional entities
(i.e. public safety officials, USACE, USGS, river
authorities)
How are we Chatting?
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https://nwschat.weather.gov
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Click on Request NWSChat Account
Sign up for an account and create a user ID
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Example – Partner Coordination
Discussion between
NWS and Harris
County Flood Control
District (City of
Houston) on potential
rainfall and impacts
USGS relaying stream
flow measurements
from the field and
coordinating on
additional locations
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
iNWS
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Prototype system to provide NWS alerts on
mobile devices
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Community Leaders and Government Partners
inws.wrh.noaa.gov
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Viewable from computer and mobile devices
Alerts based on customer preference
Alerts now include river observations and
forecasts
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Societal Impacts
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WAS*IS (Water and Science – Integrated
Studies)
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Social science into the weather/water enterprise to
improve response to warnings/emergencies
Customer involvement in NWS policy and
product development
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Numerous local, regional, and federal projects
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Designed to elicit feedback/input from customers
Drive new initiatives
Effectively communicate risk
Ensure customers needs are known and
addressed
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Summary
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Education/Outreach
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Products/Services
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Improving awareness and preparedness
Providing information before, during, and after
events
Decision Support/Customer Involvement

Ensuring the right information is being
communicated
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov
Questions/Comments?

Gregory Shelton
Service Coordination Hydrologist
NWS West Gulf River Forecast Center
817-831-3289 x323
greg.shelton@noaa.gov

Tracy Howieson
Hydrologic Services Program Manager
NWS Southern Region
817-978-1100 x120
tracy.howieson@noaa.gov
NWS Hydrologic Services
http://water.weather.gov