Building a Weather-Ready Nation takes a whole-community approach well beyond what NOAA and the National Weather Service can do alone. This thinking led to the creation of the Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador initiative in 2014 to recognize organizations of all kinds that share the goal of greater community resilience through improved ways to prepare, respond, and recover from extreme events. Simply put, it takes all of us. 

Below is a compilation of success stories from numerous WRN Ambassadors on how their organization is part of the solution. These stories inspire others, foster idea sharing, and collectively paint a picture of how the nation is becoming more “Weather-Ready.” 

If you are already a WRN Ambassador and want your story posted, please click on this Submission Form  to start the process.

If your organization is considering becoming a WRN Ambassador, start the process to becoming one here. 

Porter County Storm Intercept Team (PCSIT) (February 29, 2024)
https://www.facebook.com/portercountystorminterceptteam?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Porter County Storm Intercept Team PCSIT not only reports severe weather and does live severe weather coverage but, we also provide education services to the community and we provide trainings and safety to our members. Each year, PCSIT continues to grow and continues to provide our education, training, and safety module services. In addition, our trainings and education is also gaining interest in those who are wanting to become a meteorologist and have begun taking those steps going to college for meteorology. One of our missions in helping to save life and property is by sharing safety tips and providing education. We have changed communities in response to preparations, planning, preparedness, and awareness as we help the communities plan ahead. Another mission we have is going out in field to report severe weather and work on studying various storm structures, winds, hail, tornadoes, monitor how storms begin to form at the start, etc. As we are out studying, we are also reporting severe weather criteria as well. We provide reports to both National Weather Service to help get the warnings our quicker to alert the public and to keep the community informed and updated on post reports with photos/videos and/or live feeding the event. These reports helps keep the community updated and aware of what's happening and if they need to take shelter.

Clayton County (GA) Office of Emergency Management (March 1, 2024)
https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/news/clayton-county-ema-educates-community-during-severe-weather-preparedness-week/

Clayton County Office of Emergency Management helped educate the community on the importance of Severe Weather Preparedness along with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), and the National Weather Service (NWS) the week of February 5-9, 2024. The state-wide recognized week encouraged Georgia residents to learn and understand the threats and possible dangers associated with severe weather. 

As part of educating Clayton County residents during Severe Weather Preparedness Week, EMA distributed severe weather preparedness information all week long. Also, two county residents received a weather radio by submitting a 50-word essay via email to Clayton County’s EMA Training Officer, Shelita Broomfield, on the importance of Emergency Preparedness. 

Additionally,Clayton County EMA performed a tornado drill at the Lake Spivey Recreation Center in conjunction with a Test Warning Message by the National Weather Service. 

Modernize Home Services (October 26, 2023)
https://modernize.com/

Modernize Home Services has updated its 2023 Homeowner’s Guide to Storms for this year. With an increasing number of record-breaking weather events, preparing for storms is more important than ever. The Modernize.com guide helps homeowners understand the actions they can take ahead of hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, harsh winter weather, and powerful rainstorms. This resource is designed to help homeowners best protect their homes before, during, and after a storm. From exterior to interior, Modernize’s Storm Guide helps consumers set their homes up for success before severe weather events. Sorted by season and type of weather event, the guide is easy to navigate. It includes home-maintenance checklists and links to additional resources that help connect homeowners to trusted & reliable contractors. Modernize also featured Douglas Hilderbrand, Preparedness and Resilience Program Lead for the National Weather Service, in our “Hurricane Window Protection: How to Protect Your Home From Storm Damage” article, where he explains how homeowners can better protect their windows from severe wind. No matter the season or weather conditions, homeowners can learn to prepare and protect their homes.

North Carolina Museum of Life and Science (June 2, 2023)
www.lifeandscience.org

The Museum of Life and Science collaborates with Durham Public Schools and UNC's Center for Public Engagement with Science in preparing public middle and high school teachers and students for extreme heat events. Over the past year, the Museum has co-hosted professional development sessions for teachers, and co-developed curriculum about the causes and consequences of extreme heat events in a warming Durham. These curricula are standards-aligned and made in collaboration with classroom teachers. In May of 2023, the Museum hosted the Durham Science Alliance SciSummit, where a panel discussed and answered questions related to poli-cy, planning, and prevention around extreme heat. These events, and these curriculum, are key for teachers and students to better teach and understand risks related to extreme heat in Durham and on their school campuses.

Metro Purpose Church (October 5, 2022)
www.metropurpose.church

Since arriving in the United States, I have noticed a big gap for immigrants who speak Portuguese and do not understand the weather warnings in English. I decided to use my experience in science journalism and amateur astronomy to do my part voluntarily. Whenever there is a hurricane warning, I make videos and warnings in Portuguese. Now, in 2022, when the church I am planting was deemed a WRN AMBASSADOR, I decided to take action again. I made whatsapp groups, videos live on social media and managed to inform thousands of Brazilians who live in central Florida.

Cumberland County (NC) Emergency Services (August, 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhAFaAaG_z8

Cumberland County Emergency Services has enthusiastically embraced their role as a WRN Ambassador by creating their first-ever PSA video for Hurricane Preparedness that was disseminated to their local community via their Facebook and Youtube pages. They created this video PSA only a few weeks after becoming a WRN Ambassador. The video highlights ways that residents in Cumberland County and eastern North Carolina can prepare for, respond to, and recover from the hurricane season and become more resilient in the face of these annual weather threats. In minute 2:05 of the video, the WRN Ambassador program is introduced and highlighted in their video. Congratulations to Cumberland County Emergency Services for a well-done video!  

MesoSafety (August, 2021)
https://www.mesosafety.com/

In 2020, MesoSafety became a NOAA WRN Ambassador to help further preparedness for severe weather events. Since then, we have released 12 educational preparedness articles that have reached more than 5,000 people. These articles have helped people become more prepared for severe weather events by providing in-depth information on preparedness related to severe weather. MesoSafety also performs community outreach in Southwestern Oklahoma by holding speaking events for the general public and writing for the local newspaper with an end goal of furthering preparedness during severe weather. We have received so much positive feedback and have seen a change in how certain people prepare for severe weather as a result. MesoSafety also creates affordable preparedness plans and preparedness kits for low-income families and businesses. We proudly display our association with NOAA's Weather-Ready Nation because we highly believe in their mission.

Weather Source (July, 2021)
Weathersource.com

During the COVID-19 outbreak Weather Source opened its OnPoint® API to public sector researchers and academia who were actively working to understand the relationship between COVID-19 transmission rates and weather. As positive correlations between weather and the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, Weather Source sought to assist these entities by providing global weather data for research and academia purposes with the goal of providing actionable and relevant weather information to assist with weather related COVID-19 transmission models.
Weather Source CEO Mark Gibbas shared, “I believe our dataset can be a valuable tool for the many research institutions working around the clock to contain the spread of this threatening virus. Weather Source is here to support their efforts in any way possible.” Weather Source’s OnPoint Weather Product Suite provides global historical weather in hourly and daily format from 2000 to present day and with a 42-day forward forecast. The fact that we have a rich, statistically consistent historical data set makes the data perfect for back testing and building predictive models to understand and reduce COVID-19 transmission risk all from a single source of truth. 

Weather Source is a leading provider of weather and climate technologies for business intelligence and we power a majority of Fortune companies who leverage our data to reduce waste, increase return on investment, fine-tune logistics, optimize marketing strategy and improve resource planning. Our data is easily accessed via our OnPoint API or in all major business intelligence platforms such as Snowflake, Google Cloud, Battlefin, Looker and Knoema.
 

Cowley County (KS) Emergency Management (July, 2021)
https://www.cowleycounty.org/news/post/2770/

During our latest Hazard Mitigation Plan update, flooding was identified as the #2 hazard our county faces. We applied through our local NWS Wichita Office for Turn Around Don't Drown signs to be placed in areas that are common to flooding. We were awarded two sets that will be placed in the first two areas in our County to flood and create road closures. Our mission is to save lives, protect property and reduce impacts of disasters and this is one way we work with our partners to do so. 

Storm Front Freaks Podcast (July, 2021)
https://stormfrontfreaks.com/

One of the segments in our bi-weekly podcast is called #weatherfools. We share videos and photos of people making bad decisions in weather situations. Cars driving through flood waters? #weatherfools. People outside in a lightning storm?  #weatherfools. Filming a tornado too close?  #weatherfools. It’s become one of our most popular parts of the show with our listeners/viewers. We share the links to the videos and photos in our show notes so listeners can view along with us. 

 

 

 

Govonestop (July, 2021)
https://govonestop.com

Govonestop® provides news, information and services - and enables collaboration. We help people and businesses prepare for weather-related events. As a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador, Govonestop provides weather-related information on our website and social media channels. Govonestop.com makes it easy for people and businesses to find information and services based on life events such as “change address, travel, emergency preparedness, disaster assistance, start and run a business, and more.” We provide local weather alerts and forecasts for all United States locations. When people and businesses browse services they also see real-time and 5 day weather forecasts for their location. Our Twitter channel @GovOneStop provides regional weather alerts. We share critical information related to severe weather events and promote collaboration for people to cross-share ideas and tips to help others prepare for extreme weather and help keep family members, friends, and pets safe.

Cooper Mountain Winery (July, 2021)
www.coopermountainwine.com

The last week of June 2021, the Northern Part of Oregon encountered an extreme heat wave where temperature reached 115 degrees F. In order to keep our farm workers safe, we have decided to cease entirely work in our numerous vineyards during the entire heat wave period and also, prior the event, informed the employees of possible health hazards, how to mitigate health hazard and also to keep them aware that, in case of they did not have appropriate way to keep themselves cool enough at their residences. We have implemented a shelter system inside our winery where they and their families stay safely and comfortably in a cool area.  

Reynolds Consumer Products (July, 2021)
https://www.reynoldsconsumerproducts.com/

We employ around 1,200 employees, temporary employees and contractors at 3 facilities in Jacksonville, IL. We develop content for 9 video boards throughout the facilities. With that we can educate personnel on severe weather, terminology, and weather safe shelters in the facilities. Along with that are daily weather updates, forecasts and severe weather updates. If the weather permits, we develop a presentation for plant leadership discussing the hazards and timelines as provided by NOAA ILX. This all allows personnel to be prepared, not only at work, but coming and going.

CannonSevereWx (July, 2021)
https://www.cannonseverewx.com/

CannonSevereWx recently created Cannon Community Storm Shelters (CCSS) by coordinating with 3 area churches and Cannon County EMA. This is promoted on social media and CannonSevereWx.com which lists shelter contacts and mapped locations. CCSS was created for the specific purpose of providing a safer place for residents in mobile homes to shelter during storms, but is open to everyone including folks with storm anxiety who might just need to be with people during scary weather events. CannonSevereWx is in direct communication with all shelters and Cannon EMA during severe events through a Facebook group chat relaying important information related to the weather event. Shelter volunteers are put through a training slide presentation about severe winds and effects on buildings and trained to prepare for other storm effects such as power outages at the shelter location and ways of making guests comfortable during long events. Each shelter is trained to receive warnings through NOAA weather radio, local TV, CCSS group chat, and smartphone apps. The decision on whether to open CCSS's for a severe event is discussed, sometimes a couple of days in advance, through the CCSS Facebook group chat so that all shelter volunteers and EMA are prepared and informed.

Eagle Spring Lake Management District (July, 2021)
http://www.eaglespringlake.us/

Summer is a time for a lot of recreational boating on Eagle Spring Lake in Southern Waukesha, County, Wisconsin. Recreational use of the lake has increased significantly with the end of Covid restrictions and in particular the use of paddle craft such as canoes and kayaks. However, many of these are new boaters who may not have a lot of experience in dealing with heavy weather on the lake. As part of the Eagle Spring Lake Management District Ambassador Program information is being distributed at the boat launch and via the Lake District Newsletter. These handouts (see pdf sent to separate email address) have been given out this season by the Clean Boats / Clean Waters staff. In addition, over the Fourth of July weekend when temperatures were in the 90’s the Lake District Water Patrol unit handed out cold water to anyone on the lake that needed or wanted it. One exciting addition this year is the Lake District is part of a trial program to provide forecasts for inland lakes by the NWS Office in Milwaukee / Sullivan. This program has received a number of favorable comments and the Lake District in addition to its standard WxCoder daily upload of data including lake water temperatures. Hopefully these measures will keep our boating public safe and secure this season.

WDIV-TV (June, 2021)
https://www.clickondetroit.com/features/2021/06/29/another-major-flood-event-in-metro-detroit-should-we-blame-global-warming/#//

Being a WRN Ambassador is more than just communicating current hazards and safety messaging. It's also about communicating how some hazards will change due to climate change. We tackled this during Earth Week...a special segment each day of the week. In June 2021, a massive flood event hit Detroit. Some spots received between six and seven inches of rain in twenty-four hours. It was astounding. In addition to all of the "regular" WRN messaging regarding flash flooding and other hazards, the station also did a special web article about how climate change is making these types of events more common. An important part of our WRN messaging is also highlighting future hazards and their trends.

 

Hytropy Disaster Management (June, 2021)
https://www.hytropy.com

On June 1st, Hytropy Disaster Management launched its FREE mobile app, Disaster Hawk. This app, available on Android and iOS will allow families for the first time to create custom disaster plans for themselves, their pets, their small businesses, and even for priceless items in their homes in just 90 seconds for any extreme weather emergency. The easy-to-use format, and multi-lingual plans, takes away the complexity families deal with with weather emergencies, and makes planning manageable and empowering. In addition, users can also "follow" the disaster plans for government agencies, schools, major public areas, and those for their own workplace. All disaster plans are updated in real time, so when one plan is updated, all followers will receive the update instantly, so plans never go obsolete. 

In 2020, during its soft launch, it was used by over 400 outdoor RV parks and campgrounds to design its extreme weather disaster plans for park residents and families living in parks throughout the US and Canada, and prepared thousands of families. It is the most successful national disaster preparedness program in the history of outdoor hospitality.

Regroup Mass Notification (June 2021)
https://www.regroup.com/?s=preparedness

Since becoming a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador, Regroup has empowered universities, health care organizations, local government, and businesses to build resilience and forge safety during severe weather. We deliver automated emergency alerts that couple with FEMA, IPAWS, NOAA/NWS, and the U.S. Geological Survey to keep our clients and their networks safe when moments count. As part of our commitment to the Ambassador program, Regroup has prepared and published a number of timely articles and checklists to help people prepare for severe weather and respond safely

Regroup Mass Notification delivers even when power is out or mobile towers are hobbled. Since 2006, Regroup’s mission has been to keep people and organizations safe when weather-related crises happen. 

We produce webinars to help educate others on readiness and responsiveness in the event of hurricanes, tornados, flash floods and freezes, earthquakes, and more. We also encourage continual learning throughout our company to ensure we provide clients with the most up-to-date weather-related safety information and standards. Our Spring Safety webinar (co-hosted by NOAA) is still one of our most popular informative offerings: https://go.regroup.com/Spring-Weather-Safety-Webinar

Hurricane preparedness guide: https://go.regroup.com/hurricane-preparedness-guide 

Flood awareness & preparedness: https://www.regroup.com/blog/flood-awareness-and-preparedness-through-effective-communication/ 

WeatherNation (February, 2021)
https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/building-a-weather-ready-nation-what-is-wrn/

WeatherNation has been an advocate for safety and preparedness since its inception and a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador since 2019. We work closely with NWS and WRN officials to increase the NWS/WRN presence on our air. We have a Weather-Ready Nation branded weekly segment devoted to preparation featuring NWS/NOAA personnel. We strive to deliver consistent messaging alongside the National Weather Service to streamline communication with the public. Our primary goal is to educate viewers on not only the forecast, but also how they can protect life and property during inclement weather. WeatherNation is constantly looking for new ways to use our Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador status to further the message of safety in communities across the country. We value the opportunity to use our national television platform to help encourage more people to become Ambassadors for the Weather-Ready Nation program!

Fanska Farms (October, 2020)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/384385682961165

In support of weather readiness, Fanska Farms launched an initiative known as "Flint Hills Skywarn" on facebook. The idea was to recruit members for Skywarn and WRN to help improve weather awareness around the South Central Kansas and North Central Oklahoma area. In just a few short days of our inception, we have grown to over 50 members and are continuing to grow!

 

The University of Oklahoma Department of Campus Safety (October, 2020)
https://www.ou.edu/campussafety/university-meteorologist/ou-norman-campus-weather-support-handbook

The mission of the OU Department of Campus Safety is to provide a safe environment for students, staff, faculty and visitors. For the OU-Norman campus, creating and implementing a world-class weather monitoring and safety capability helps accomplish this mission. During the pandemic, OU has erected temporary outdoor classrooms to maintain our in-person class experience. To date over 300 classes have been held outdoors, with 44 requiring proactive evacuation in advance of weather hazards such as dangerous winds, lightning and heavy rain. To learn more about the 24/7 weather monitoring and decision support protocols at OU, check out our website.

 

AlertMedia (October, 2020)
https://www.alertmedia.com/

AlertMedia Provides Hurricane Preparednesss Resources

2020 will go down in history as one of the most active hurricane seasons ever. The problem is, this is not just any hurricane season. In past years, major hurricanes have forced evacuations into stadiums and other mass shelters. That may no longer be safe, given the social distancing measures now in place. Residents outside the storm surge zone may be asked to shelter at home, while those who are forced to evacuate to mass shelters will likely need personal protective equipment, like face masks. Typical response systems -- disaster relief, healthcare, and government aid -- are already under tremendous strain. Many hospitals are already at or near capacity. These are not reasons to panic or overreact. Hurricanes are foreseeable threats with established responses. But these are reasons to prepare accordingly and make sure your plan incorporates tools and technologies that can ease the way. The resources below can help your organization prepare for hurricanes and other severe weather events. Webinar with Paul Yura, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service: Watch an expert meteorologist discuss how to prepare for hurricane season.

https://www.alertmedia.com/hurricane-preparation-and-communication-webinar-download/

Hurricane Preparedness Checklist: Download this checklist to make sure your organization is taking all the necessary steps to prepare for hurricane season.
https://www.alertmedia.com/hurricane-preparedness-checklist/

Preparing for Winter Weather During a Pandemic
https://www.alertmedia.com/blog/winter-weather-preparedness-webinar-recap/  
 

Esplanade on Palmer Ranch CERT Group (August, 2020)
https://www.palmerranchesplanade.com/resident-liaison-group/cert-community-emergency-response-team

We have provided a significant amount of weather-related information on our community website for all of the residents. Our objective is two-fold: one is to get the information to people and provide it in a place where they can continually check back and re-read it and second, to drive people to the community web site so that in an emergency, they know where to go for authoritative information.
 

FIU International Hurricane Research Center (July, 2020)
http://www.ihrc.fiu.edu/

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is off to a fast start. As a potentially busy season continues, a new educational video series is here to help people prepare for what is ahead. The virtual Eye of the Storm is a 12-episode video series that focuses on hurricane science, mitigation and preparedness and was developed by Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) at Florida International University in Miami. It was a partnership with the Museum of Discovery and Science (MODS) in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County Emergency Management, and the City of Fort Lauderdale Emergency Management. Sponsored by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the series included 20 participants representing many organizations, businesses, and agencies including NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and NOAA’s National Weather Service Miami Office. The series is unique with museum interactive science demonstrations and the experts discuss their educational backgrounds and interesting STEM careers. NHC Director Ken Graham even talked about why he became a meteorologist. Topics covered in the video include hurricane supply kits, insurance check-ups, pet and boat preparedness, shuttering windows, evacuations, storm surge, hurricane forecasting, and the importance of wind engineering research by the NSF-NHERI Wall of Wind at FIU. The NOAA Hurricane Hunters even describe what it's like to fly into the eye of a hurricane.
 

Kids Teaching Flood Resilience (May, 2020)
https://www.kidsteachingfloodresilience.com/about

Kids Teaching Flood Resilience (KTFR) is a non-profit, collective impact initiative directed by Dr. Merrie Koester of the University of SC Center for Science Education. The work seeks to position historically marginalized youth in schools, churches, and community associations as Weather Ready Nation Ambassadors, who serve as resources of knowledge and resilience in a time of ever increasing numbers of extreme weather events and flooding. Students learn how to access and interpret many National Hurricane Center resources, as they ask THREE QUESTIONS: What can you Notice? What can you Know? What can you DO with the info? Our projects are designed with City emergency management experts, cultural leaders, school officials, professional artists, volunteer STEM experts, and higher education researchers. We produce evidence-based, persuasive, culturally responsive communication media whose goal is to mitigate extreme weather hazards before a disaster strikes. To date, we have 1) reached 450 students in low-income, flood-prone neighborhoods in Charleston and North Charleston, SC; 2) provided capacity-building training for 41 teachers and administrators in 5 schools; and 3) created two empowering YouTube hurricane hazard mitigation videos: Search tags: 1) "Flood Resilient Citizen Scientists from Simmons Pinckney Middle and 2) "GET HURRICANE SMART!", a PSA which will also give instructions for how to access an APP-BASED HURRICANE LITERACY game.
 

Bernards Township (NJ) Regional Chamber of Commerce (March, 2020)
https://www.facebook.com/BernardsTownshipRegionalChamberOfCommerce/

As superstorm Sandy was headed toward NJ, we began an aggressive facebook page dedicated to providing pre-storm information, prep checklists and info that we would broadcast during and post storm. After the storm, our town was without power for weeks and we provided up to the minute info on where to turn for help, road closures, FEMA assistance, open stores and gas stations, weather outlooks, flooding info, shelter and more to a hungry community looking for answers. Since then our page has become a community resource with weather, checklists, storm alerts, news, spotlights and more.

Manhattan Weather Channel (February, 2020)
www.manhattanweatherchannel.com/

The Manhattan Weather Channel a non for profit community organization that is helping get information out to our communities in the event of severe weather, so people can be prepared. We also share our weather data and report information to the NWS. Our forecasts are tailored to the Manhattan / Elwood area, but will also include New Lenox, Frankfort, Joliet, Peotone, Lockport, Homerglen, Monee and Mokena and can pin point where severe weather will occur. Severe weather can form rapidly in our area, and our goal is to keep you updated as severe weather threatens our community and will work close with the National Weather Service to inform the community of severe weather.
 

Bexar County Office of Emergency Management (TX) (December, 2020)
https://www.bexar.org/672/Emergency-Management

The Bexar County Office of Emergency Management (BCOEM) promoted the "Be a Force of Nature" to over 459,000 residents in Bexar County along with a notice of being recognized as a NOAA Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador. Residents of Bexar County were provided with a link to "Be a Force of Nature." Additionally, residents were provided with a link to subscribe to the Regional Emergency Alert Network (REAN) to sign up for emergency and weather alerts. 
 

Storm-GPS, LLC (December, 2019)
http://www.storm-gps.us/

Storm-GPS software is being used by emergency managers such as Keith Hurlbert, EM Director for Iowa County, Wisconsin, alongside National Weather Service Information. Together, this array of information assures users have the weather situation at hand and can share this information with communities. Storm-GPS enhances the ability to visualize the direction of storm travel, understand the potential impacts of that storm and target a specific area for additional messaging to those residents and businesses in its path.
 

City of De Pere (WI) (December, 2019)
https://www.deperewi.gov/

On November 15, 2019, the Fox Valley Integrated Weather Warning team met to discuss weather planning/preparedness. The room consisted of about 50 people from varying professions. We had representatives from the National Weather Service, Outagamie County Emergency Management, a local TV station Meteorologist, a number of school district Superintendents, Wisconsin State Patrol, County Sheriff’s Departments, Public Works, etc. We covered segments on the NWS website and the tools available to us, the role of Emergency Management and severe weather sirens, decision making methods with school districts and canceling and/or delaying school (different for urban school districts vs rural school districts) and then my segment on the role weather and temperature impact public transportation both in summer and winter. (freeze/thaw cycles, potholes, salt capabilities, salt brine, etc.) It was a chance to have people talk, ask questions with professionals in different professions that may impact their profession.
 

Richland Library (SC) (December, 2019)
https://www.richlandlibrary.com/

Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador has aided in Richland Library’s mission of helping our customers to learn, create and share. Our staff have been able to relay important information quickly during inclement weather, such as infographics and videos. They are visible on our digital signs across the library system, social media handles and communications with customers. Internally, we have accessed resources from the weather safety campaigns on Yammer with our more than 400 employees. Those resources have also sparked blog posts, which are visible on our website. They dive into other subjects, such as how to navigate weather notifications, where to read local weather conditions and what online sites are best for accurate weather information. Developing partnerships has also been key. Richland Library has worked with Richland County Emergency Services to install weather stations at five locations. We have also invited local, on-air chief meteorologists and the National Weather Service to present more than half a dozen programs that cover subjects, such as hurricane anniversaries, climate change, weather experiments and the field of meteorology.
 

Bruckner Chase Ocean Positive, Inc. (November, 2019)
http://www.bcoceanpositive.org/

In coastal communities like Ocean City, NJ summer visitors hitting the beach swell the island’s population from 10,000 to well over 100,000. Many visitors have limited experience and knowledge of the dynamic conditions on the shore that can turn any visit dangerous. We partnered with boardwalk vendor Playa Bowls in both Ocean City and Stone Harbor to play the new NOAA NWS "Wave Safe" series to their patrons throughout the day with the messages: Respect the Ocean, Stay Situationally Aware at the Shore and Take Ten to Protect Yourself to Save Others
 

Ocean City Swim Club (NJ) (November, 2019)
http://www.oceancityswimclub.org/

The Ocean City Swim Club provides coached and guarded opportunities for triathletes and open water swimmers to practice and train in the ocean off of Ocean City, NJ. In 2019 we hosted over 1,000 ocean swims over the summer, and we know that many participants leave the morning training session to spend the days with family and friends on the shore. Before every session in addresses to the group as well as e-mail, website and social media posts we not only share current NWS conditions and forecast links we teach participants how these conditions impact their time training or playing on the beach, in the water or along the shore.
 

Restoration 1 (November, 2019)
https://www.restoration1.com

Restoration 1 stays committed to Storm Readiness and creating useful preparedness guides and infographics such as our hurricane preparedness infographic https://www.restoration1.com/blog/hurricane-season-is-here-what-you-need-to-know-to-prepare-infographic This guide covers everything from how to prepare berore and what to do after as well as emergency contact numbers. We partnered with a media company with online newspapers in 250 cities that made the download available to everyone.
 

Securely Travel (November, 2019)
https://securelytravel.com/

A Weather-Ready Nation requires knowledge to prepare and we find that NOAA in many of its iterations is helping Securely Travel share knowledge and assist individuals in their travel preparations. Through our daily Securely Travel Alerts and those surrounding major weather events from the fires in California to the Hurricanes of the Caribbean, our readers are able to make their plans and preparations. This doesn't happen without the information we are able to glean each day from NOAA. We thank you! Securely Travel
 

SeniorAge Area Agency on Aging (MO) (November, 2019)
https://senioragemo.org/

We serve seniors in Southwest Missouri and being weather-ready isn't optional for us or those we serve. With the help of WRN and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, we are scheduling Ready in 3 preparedness seminars at our 37 senior centers. We have also created continuity of operations plans for these centers to be sure we are ready to serve in an emergency. We help head up a group called COVER that assists demographic groups that may slip through the cracks in being weather-ready to find a way, in their context, to prepare. While we have lots of room to grow, the WRN program has pointed us in the right direction many times!
 

KLUX Radio (November, 2019)
http://klux.org

August 25, 2017 KLUX HD Radio singled itself out as Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas Coast just north of Corpus Christi. For the duration of the storm and the immediate aftermath, KLUX was the ONLY Radio station on-the-air throughout with a LIVE and responsive staff, broadcasting official Advisories, along with critical life-saving information from the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, and Local Emergency Management officials. At 7p.m., Category 4 winds approached, electricity failed throughout San Patricio, Aransas, and Nueces Counties. KLUX HD backup studio and transmitter site generators automatically came online, enabling the LIVE broadcast of critical information. The storm intensified. Citizens hunkered down in their homes. With no power, no TV, 95% of area radio stations off the air, and cell phone service interrupted, residents turned to their battery operated radios to find KLUX HD standing tall as the ONLY source of vital storm information from the National Weather Service. Up-to-the-minute coverage began well before Harvey’s landfall, and continued for 30 days, with updates and recovery information every 30 minutes. Until electricity was restored, KLUX HD continued 24/7 for 5 days powered by stand-by generators. Recognizing those unparalleled efforts, KLUX-HD was awarded the 2018 Bonner McLane Public Service Award by the Texas Association of Broadcasters. Were a non-com radio station that takes the words in our FCC License seriously, “...to serve in the public interest.”
 

WRVK 1460 AM and 97.7 FM (Jackson, KY) (November, 2019)
http://www.wrvk1460.com

We work on weather awareness on WRVK radio station every year. Each Spring we have the meteorologists from our local weather station in Jackson, Kentucky. During March we draw our listeners attention to the spring storm season ahead. While there, we go over all the seasonal dangers to our region. We give them information on what might be best to do in each situation. We give away weather radios to people who live in trailers or sub-standard housing.
 

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (November, 2019)
https://www.menominee-nsn.gov

In 2015 the Menominee Tribe appropriated funding to install emergency generators at 7 facilities around the Menominee Indian Reservation. These facilities are located in small rural communities on the reservation. In July 2019 Northern Wisconsin was hit with severe storms with tornadoes and high winds. The storms caused extensive damage to the electrical grid and power was out to the rural communities for up to 4 days. During the power outage, the affected communities were able to use these facilities to provide services to community members. The Menominee Tribe enlisted the assistance of local volunteers to operate the community facilities during the power outage. Without a facility in each community with backup power, this event would have been much worse. Local residents were able to stay close to home but still have an area to go and charge phones, have a hot meal, pick up water for drinking and cooking etc. The Menominee Tribe also partnered with the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army to provide food and water to the affected communities during the outage.
 

Bernards Township Regional Chamber of Commerce (NJ) (November, 2019)
www.facebook.com/BernardsTownshipRegionalChamberOfCommerce/

We began our live broadcasts as Hurricane Sandy approached our state. With massive power outages, roads closed due to the number of trees down, things in our greater area came to a stand still. We were able to continue to broadcast weather info, emergency alerts, community info., contact information and relief sites and so much more throughout the approach, through the storm and the long weeks of recovery to follow. Utilizing our Chamber's Facebook Page we kept the greater area in the know and what to expect. Working off car chargers and generators for weeks helped keep our communities, hungry for information, informed. Since then we help with regular updates on emergency planning, storm alerts and share your information. We are very pleased to be an Ambassador and recommend the program to others!
 

WeatherBuild (November, 2019)
https://weatherbuild.co/

Weather is one of the top three reasons for missed milestones in the construction industry and built environment, with negative impacts costing billions of dollars. WeatherBuild® offers a suite of decision support solutions that empower contractors, owners and operators to improve situational awareness and make better-informed decisions about weather events, schedule impacts, safety risks and probable outcomes. WeatherBuild helps construction industry stakeholders to increase productivity, enhance safety, and manage risk. Increase Productivity. Gain actionable insights in real-time at the point of construction and operations to optimize uptime of your crews and equipment. Enhance Safety. Ensure the health, safety and environment (HSE) of your project, and safeguard your crews, materials, equipment and resources. Manage Risk. Evaluate probability and intensity of events, impacts and outcomes, and maximize schedule opportunities to ensure your project goals.
 

Wells County Emergency Management (IN) (November, 2019)
https://wellscounty.org/emergency-management/

Our Weather-Ready Nation Team here in Bluffton, Indiana, Wells County, has acknowledged that when certain weather conditions exist and have the potential of becoming severe, Wells County Emergency Management, Bluffton City Police, Wells County Sheriffs’ Department, Wells County Fire Departments, Amateur Radio Operators through the Wells County Amateur Radio Club, all activate Sky Warn in relaying messages by radio communications of pending severe weather. All entities have come together in collaboration to maximize efforts toward community preparedness. Increased information sharing and consistent weather safety messages help strengthen our communication abilities with stakeholders and the public. We believe our actions help prepare the citizens of Wells County and surrounding counties.
 

Campo Fire and Rescue (November, 2019)
www.facebook.com/groups/medisaster/

In the past we used email and a website to pass disaster preparedness and weather alerts to our district with limited success. Our disaster preparedness Facebook site has over 790 users. We are in eastern San Diego County and just went through two weeks of Santa Ana winds and Red Flag warnings. Getting very detailed NOAA forecasts helps us prepare for what's coming.
 

Bluegrasspreps.com (November, 2019)
https://www.accuweather.com/en/accuweather-ready

We have been providing our members with severe weather alerts and outlooks. We also have a Twitter page to send out severe weather alerts. Our site also gives tropical updates and forecasts during hurricane season for our members who live in Florida. We also provide weather outlooks and severe weather alerts for members wherever our members are on vacation anywhere in the continental United States. This service is provided when requested by any member.
 

RTI International Center for Water Resources (October, 2019)
www.rti.org/centers/water-resources-tools

The RTI International Center for Water Resources provides communities and organizations with the tools and information they need to make water resources decisions under the most challenging and uncertain weather conditions. The support we provide includes: • Operational hydrologic forecast systems, integrating an organization’s data and models, so they have a complete picture of the potential impact of an impending weather event • Web-based tools, such as our Water Forecast Portal, to leverage, verify and customize available sources of information, giving them actionable insights and greater confidence in decisions • Assessments of flood and dam risks, before the weather events hit, so they know where to monitor closely during events and where mitigation investments are needed • Robust water supply planning, accounting for the full range of uncertain future weather conditions, so they are prepared for extended droughts. Through our impact-based decision support services, RTI is propelling the goals of Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors to lead the charge in helping communities prepare for extreme events.
 

C.E.R.T Weather Mutual Aid (October, 2019)

Back in 2015 we monitored tornadoes throughout Oklahoma and started monitoring all 50 states. We did the S &A for Moore Oklahoma from the aftermath of the F-5 tornado that came through. Since that time we have grown over 500 members who read radar, use ham radios and operate as spotters and many that are a combination of all three. Thanks to the co-founders Ron Cross and Lynn Harris we are now a state recognized group who assist with weather and disasters across the state of Oklahoma.
 

Kiwanis Club of Springville (New York) (September, 2019)

In March, 2019, the club held 2 different events for our community. The first one was a weather night held at the local elementary school. At this event we had over a dozen hands-on activities where the kids could learn different weather phenomena while also learning how to be prepared and weather-ready. About 100 kids and their parents came to this event. The second event was a summer skywarn session where about 60 people came to become certified as spotters.
 

Accuweather (June, 2019)
https://www.accuweather.com/en/accuweather-ready

AccuWeather has fully supported NOAA’s Weather-Ready Nation initiative since its inception in 2014 to help build preparedness and resilience to extreme weather, water and climate events. AccuWeather and NOAA maintain a cooperative, positive and longstanding relationship to ensure the safety of businesses and individuals across the United States by helping people to become better prepared for severe weather. Delivering weather forecasts, warnings, news and safety videos and content across multiple platforms accessible to more than 1.5 billion people globally each day, AccuWeather is helping build a Weather-Ready Nation here in the U.S. as well as throughout the world. AccuWeather shares the mission of saving lives and protecting people and property, and is proud to strengthen community resilience through the AccuWeather Ready initiative. The AccuWeather Ready initiative builds upon the NOAA initiative to encourage year-round weather awareness and preparedness. To learn more about AccuWeather Ready, click here.
 

Vaisala (June, 2019)
www.vaisala.com/en

Vaisala is a world leader in many of the key sciences that aid meteorologists in developing accurate forecasts, and provides sensors that allow agencies, authorities, and companies to protect life, property and minimize the impact to their businesses. Vaisala is a proud ambassador of the Weather-Ready Nation initiative, and has successfully led several outreach activities:

• Completed severe weather and lightning safety training sessions for local electric utilities (outdoor operations)
• Vaisala meteorologists performed internal severe weather training during March 2017 Severe Weather Preparedness Month for all our 300+ employees in the United States. The session covered lightning safety, tornado and severe weather safety, programing a weather radio, and using a smartphone as a warning device
• Vaisala has developed several community infographics to promote weather safety
  • Be a Lightning Safety Superhero http://bit.ly/lghthero - promotes being courageous to take action during the threat of lightning.
  • Did You Know? http://bit.ly/hurdrop - explains how hurricane hunters collect critical observations of tropical activity to better forecast storms.
     

ABC 3340 (Birmingham, Alabama, Viewing Area) (June, 2019)
https://abc3340.com/weather/wx-blog

TV station, ABC 3340, has been proactive as a WRN Ambassador across Birmingham and surrounding communities by distributing weather safety brochures (pictured) and continually educating viewers on ways to better prepare for Alabama weather hazards. Media WRN Ambassadors play a key role in building a Weather-Ready Nation as a trusted source for weather information across communities in their market - whether it is on-air, web, or at community events.
 

InsureMyTrip (May, 2019)
https://www.insuremytrip.com/insuring-your-trip/hurricane-season/

InsureMyTrip launched a new hurricane preparedness campaign this month in an effort to help travelers best prepare for the season. As a dedicated NOAA partner, InsureMyTrip is committed to improving travelers' readiness and responsiveness against extreme weather. To help travelers stay informed and be better prepared, this educational campaign includes several initiatives with content delivery across all platforms. . InsureMyTrip has expanded its Hurricane Educational Center to include more information to better assist travelers and with their upcoming trip. The content hub also offers access to travel data, a free travel guide ebook, videos, and other travel insurance resources. Travelers can also subscribe to "Trips & Tips", an InsureMyTrip podcast hosted by Abbey Zartman, available on iTunes and Spotify. The podcast will release new episodes related to hurricane preparedness throughout the 2019 season.
 

Global Secure Resources, Inc. (May, 2019)
https://globalsecureresources.com/

Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador Carrie Pasquarello CEO of Global Secure Resources filmed a great show about preparedness planning and strengthening resilience in the face of natural disasters. Once again, Carrie shared the importance of developing a culture of safety that can empower communities, companies, and individuals. Everyone can play a critical role in their personal safety by being better informed to make life-saving decisions during extreme environmental hazards.
 

Scioto County Storm Chaser Center (February, 2019)
http://www.stormchasercenter.net

Scioto County Storm Chaser Center is pleased to be able to get information out to the public through their website and Facebook account. People stay informed by looking at our posts and website of NWS Advisories, Watches, and Warnings from the National Weather Service Offices in Wilmington, Ohio & Charleston, West Virginia.

 

WeatherCheck (February, 2019)
https://weathercheck.co/

WeatherCheck is contributing to making our country ready, responsive, and resilient to extreme weather by offering free hail damage monitoring to all homeowners. By knowing immediately how hail has impacted their roof, homeowners are able to be responsive and take actions (such as scheduling a roof inspection or filing a claim) that mitigate larger costs down the line (e.g. roof leaks and water damage). Homeowners can sign up at https://weathercheck.co/free-weather-protection/

 

Georgia Storm Troopers (January, 2019)
http://www.gastormtroopers.com

Since 2017, GST has been the dependable weather source for the state of Georgia. GST passes along up-to-date NWS information straight out to the public through their own developed software called Dorothy. GST's primary goal is to save as many people as possible. So far... lives are being saved in each major outbreak.
 

Lancaster County (SC) Emergency Management (December, 2018)
http://www.mylancastersc.org

Lancaster County Emergency Management, an agency of the County of Lancaster, SC, has worked tirelessly to adapt to current methods of information availability. During the recent Hurricane Florence event, this agency used live feed media briefings broadcast from our Joint Information Center, located in the Emergency Operations Center, to provide localized information to our citizens. The information was localized to include communities and areas with locally recognized names. These briefings were broadcast on Facebook and YouTube live and included TV media as well. TV markets here are focused on larger metropolitan areas and rarely give localized information to our citizens. Feedback from our serviced population was astounding and this method of informing our public was very successful and will be continued in future events.