Sam Lashley, who has been at the National Weather Service office, Northern Indiana, for the past 20 years is a senior forecaster and responsible for the day to day operations.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in a four-part series on the National Weather Service, Northern Indiana.)
NORTHERN INDIANA —The National Weather Service, Northern Indiana, is staffed 24/7 by a minimum of two people. “We are heavily staffed during the day, with a shift overlap during the early afternoon into the evening,” said Michael Lewis. This is partly due to the need for weather during the day and more active weather at this time.
There are three electronics technicians, four meteorologists who are managers: one responsible for the electronics side, two science and operations officers and a warning coordination manager; an administrative assistant; three entry level meteorologists, four general forecasters and five senior forecasters.
Geoffery Heildelberger, entry level meteorologist, checks the gauge behind the NWS office for a precipitation reading. The NWS trains interested individuals how to properly measure rain, snow and hail and report it daily to the NWS. (Photo by Deb Patterson)
These highly trained individuals spend their days analyzing hundreds of computer models received once every three hours, constantly looking at the models for trends, making adjustments on the trends observed. “It’s a lot of intellectual, a lot of mentally driven processing,” said Lewis. “Logically we know what the model is saying … does it really mean this? Historically we have this background to fall back on. The other part is if I start making changes now (in the forecast) what are the impacts? We have to analyze and decide is this the moment to make the change … .”
The data received comes from satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration where the data is processed and forecast models created. It’s condensed down and put in a format that can be displayed. “We can overlay colors, add and subtract things. We have a way to look at the atmosphere in three dimensions from every forecast we get. Every forecast model behaves differently, acts differently and responds differently. We have to be able to process them.”
Forecasting temperatures, rain and snow is not all the NWS offers. Forecasts specifically for aviation, rivers and lakes, fire weather and marine forecasts are also handled by the NWS.
Education and public service is also a part of what the NWS offers. “We push a lot out on the internet — educational resources,” said Lewis. These could be information on why fog has formed, differences between watches and warnings and so forth.
The biggest public service is spotter observer training. This need was recognized in 1965 (Palm Sunday tornados) and in 1974. “We started looking at ways to communicate more effectively. Amateur radio is a part of that,” said Lewis. The spotter training is open to the public and is two hours long. There are 22 classes offered during February and March free of charge. “When you get done with that, there is no obligation (to make any reports),” Lewis said.
Other services include tours of the office, materials and resources for elementary through middle school education, booths at safety fairs, boat shows, and creating partnerships with public sector decision makers. Working with public partners such as emergency managers, the NWS makes available information on how the weather service can help when responding to or recovering from disasters. “Weather plays a role. If you have a recovery operation an it’s sub zero, it’s entirely different than if you have a recovery operation in the 90s … the weather service is there.”