The Weather Event Simulator and opportunities for the severe storms community

The NWS Weather Event Simulator (WES) is the data playback and training software used by the National Weather Service to prepare for severe weather operations. The WES was first released in 2001, and every NWS office obtained a Linux workstation for training and research using the WES. The WES utilizes recent versions of the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) and a data pump to provide for the review of data cases and training simulations using archived weather events. In the fall of 2003, a free version of WES was released. Despite improved accessibility of the software, WES has yet to be fully exploited by the academic and research community outside the NWS. This paper reviews the latest additions to the WES, and it provides 1) information on how WES can be used to collaborate with NWS forecast offices and 2) how WES can be used to display real-time data using commonly available data feeds.