Weather Ready Nation: A Video Series Describing Advances and Roles within the NWS

NOAA's Weather Ready Nation (WRN) initiative aims to transform National Weather Service (NWS) operations to help America prepare for, respond to, and recover from extreme natural hazard events. This initiative includes those working for the NWS and NOAA, as well as emergency managers, first responders, government officials, businesses, and the public. Moving toward this goal together will strengthen community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability. Throughout 2015, the Office of the Chief Learning Officer, in coordination with the NWS Operations Proving Ground and NWS Central Region Headquarters, created a video series designed to answer several common questions about the vision, strategy, goals and impacts of WRN. Specific topics include defining the initiative, highlighting current advances, and identifying the role all NWS employees must play to accomplish the goal of a Weather Ready Nation. The series consists of 10 short (3 minutes or less) videos. It commences with an overview of the Weather Ready Nation vision, the purpose, and identification of the four key components: Impact-Based Decision Support Services, Communication, Local Expertise, and Partner Alliances. The next four videos describe the advances made in the areas of impact-based decision support services, improvements to communication, technology achievements, and science integration. The final five videos detail the roles each forecaster, technician, support staff, and manager must play and why everyone in the NWS must work together to accomplish the Weather Ready Nation goals. In this presentation, we will describe the creation and purpose of these videos, and outline how NWS employees can use them to learn more about their role and motivate others. In addition, we will explain how other members of the weather enterprise can learn about the Weather Ready Nation efforts and partner with NOAA and the NWS to create a country that is ready, responsive, and resilient.