Concurrent with the National Weather Service (NWS) modernization, private industry has created advanced dissemination technology that can be used to warn citizens of severe life threatening weather events. Today, a unique opportunity exists for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to bring together advanced life threatening weather warnings from NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) with private industry reverse 911 public notification systems.

While various federal agencies provide public information services, the NWS provides public weather warnings from local WFOs every day for the protection of human life and property. Advanced reverse 911 technology can provide critical warning information quickly to “targeted” residents who are under the most severe life threatening weather conditions.

Today, the Harris County Emergency Operations Center has a reverse 911 public notification system. Harris County covers the Houston area. Their system, trade marked Intellicast Notification System, can make over 1,000 calls per minute and can target residents to within 12 meters of their exact location. That is, specific weather warnings for tornados or flash floods can be targeted to those specific parts of a city or county that are under imminent life threatening conditions.

This Pilot Project is designed to set up communications links between the Houston WFO and the Harris County Intellicast Notification System. From this effort, FSL and NWS will examine how reverse 911 technology can be used by local WFOs for dissemination of severe weather warnings.