ARL News
Field Research Division Receives StormReady Supporter Designation
November 2, 2007
A ceremony was held at ARL Field Research Division (FRD) in Idaho Falls October 30 during which the Division was recognized by the National Weather Service (NWS) for being a StormReady Supporter. Dignitaries from the ARL Headquarters, the NWS Pocatello Weather Forecast Office and Western Region, the U.S. Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office, the Idaho National Laboratory, and the State of Idaho Department of Environmental Quality were on hand to participate in the celebration.
Background:
The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) became a StormReady Community in 2002, based largely on the support given by FRD. The INL was the first federal agency in the nation to become a StormReady Community. The Lab spans 890 square miles. StormReady encourages communities to take a new, proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations and public awareness. StormReady arms communities with improved communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property – before and during the event. The nationwide community preparedness program uses a grassroots approach to help communities develop plans to handle local severe weather and flooding threats. The program is voluntary and provides communities with clear-cut advice from a partnership between local National Weather Service forecast offices and state and local emergency organizations. StormReady started in 1999 with seven communities in the Tulsa, Okla., area. There are now more than 1,252 StormReady communities across the country. Groups who establish severe weather safety plans, actively take part and promote severe weather safety awareness activities and promote the principles and guidelines of the StormReady program may be eligible to become a StormReady “Supporter.”
Significance:
The FRD is the first NOAA unit to receive the designation as a StormReady Supporter. It also highlights the close cooperation of NWS and ARL in Idaho.
More Information:
Contact information:
Kirk L. Clawson
Phone: (208) 526-2742
e-mail: kirk.clawson@noaa.gov