Partner Outreach and Internal Preparation for Public Release of National Weather Service Flood Inundation Mapping

The National Weather Service (NWS) begins its phased roll-out of dynamic flood inundation mapping (FIM) to the public in October 2023. The first step of this phased roll-out introduces FIM to 10% of the US population within specific portions of Texas and the Northeast. This percentage includes the County Warning Areas (CWAs) of the selected Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) discussed in this presentation, which cover the Northeast region. These WFOs include Albany NY, Binghamton NY, State College PA, and Pittsburgh PA. In preparation for the release of the FIMs, NWS WFOs and River Forecast Centers (RFCs) serving the selected areas have established training plans, conducted webinars, and provided direct outreach to emergency management officials and federal, state, and local partners in their CWAs.

With three different dynamic FIM products available in this roll-out, it is imperative that NWS meteorologists and hydrologists understand, and are conversant with, the differences between the products. Internal NWS FIM training is focused on these differences, managing expectations among in-house forecasters and external partners, and implementing FIM efficiently into operations.

At WFO Albany, forecaster training involved online training modules and a seminar on the different FIMs. This training was primarily conducted by National Water Center (NWC) personnel and with support from the senior service hydrologist and the Northeast RFC (NERFC). Additionally, individual outreach sessions were held for town and county emergency managers, as well as for the New York State Office of Emergency Management. The NERFC organized an intensive two-day training session for its staff. Following the initial roll-out, a FIM webinar was held for federal, state, and local partners.

This presentation outlines the outreach strategies employed by WFO Albany and NERFC to prepare their staff and partners for the utilization of dynamic FIM. It emphasizes the role of FIM in communicating impacts to fellow forecasters and emergency management personnel.