Update on the NWS Operations and Workforce Analysis

The National Weather Service (NWS) was the subject of major studies published over the years 2012-2013. The first study was conducted in two phases by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), culminating in “Weather Services for the Nation: Becoming Second to None” (2012). The second was a Congressionally-requested follow-on to the NAS study conducted by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), and published as “Forecast for the Future: Assuring the Capacity of the National Weather Service” (2013). Both studies emphasize the need to review NWS' decades-old staffing, operations, and organizational models given the Nation's evolving needs for weather, water, and climate information. The NWS Weather-Ready Nation Strategic Plan and Roadmap, also published during the same time period, states that NWS should continue to build its capacity to deliver impact-based decision support services (IDSS) to more effectively protect the Nation from hazardous weather, water, and climate events.

These external studies and strategic documents culminated in a contract effort to independently conduct an agency-wide review of NWS' staffing, operations, and organizational models to help position the agency for the future. This presentation will provide an overview and current status of that contract effort, which is currently in progress.