Ken Harding is the NWS Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining NWS headquarters in Silver Spring, MD he was the NWS Central Region Director in Kansas City, MO since 2020.

Ken joined the NWS as a general forecaster in the Air Route Traffic Control Center/Center Weather Service Unit in Anchorage, AK, in 1995. He was then selected as the Science and Operations Officer at WFO Aberdeen, SD in 1996 where he led the spin-up of the new WFO. He was selected as Meteorologist-in-Charge (MIC) at WFO Topeka, KS in 2006 where he was instrumental in the introduction of new tornado warning tags to convey expected impacts. Ken served as the MIC of WFO Des Moines, IA beginning in 2014, then moved to Central Region headquarters as Chief Program Officer in 2016, and he became Central Region Deputy Director in 2017.

Ken began his career as a weather officer in the Air Force and had tours of duty at McChord Air Force Base in Washington and Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. Most of his military career was spent supporting the air defense mission of NORAD. He also led the Department of Defense NEXRAD deployment and training effort in Alaska.

Ken earned a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Iowa State University, and a Master’s degree in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University.

Ken is a native of Rembrandt, Iowa, and has one adult daughter.

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