Severe thunderstorms are expected mainly from Kansas into northern Missouri and Iowa this afternoon and evening. Damaging winds, a few tornadoes, and large hail are the expected hazards. Excessive rainfall may bring areas of flooding to parts of the Midwest today. Hot to dangerously hot conditions will impact much of California and from the central Plains to the northern Gulf Coast today. Read More >
The Office of the Chief Learning Officer (OCLO) provides professional and technical training to enable NWS employees to reach optimum performance in present assignments and future responsibilities.
The Office goals are to teach job-specific, communication, leadership and practical skills for all employees. Examples include:
Training methods include a mix of synchronous and asynchronous instruction both in virtual and classroom environments to ensure maximum training effectiveness and employee performance. OCLO staff work with NWS senior leadership, Portfolio Funding Leaders, NWSHQ staff, and Regional/NCEP representatives to set nationwide training policies, procedures, and priorities.
The OCLO manages all training infrastructure which includes the NWS Learn Center within the Commerce Learning Center (CLC), NWS Training Portal website, Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education, and Training (COMET) Cooperative Agreement, Facility and IT security, and IT refresh/software renewals. The OCLO coordinates with the DOC and NOAA CLOs on department-wide training initiatives and requirements.
Contact
Edward Mahoney
ed.mahoney@noaa.gov
405-325-1006
The Warning Decision Training Division (WDTD) develops and delivers training and education on the integrated elements of the warning process involving a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office and its partners. WDTD uses the latest technology available including GOES and Polar satellite data, Dual-Pol Doppler radar and short range numerical models to develop training and simulations which replicate the warning environment at local offices. WDTD instructors develop and deliver a variety of in-residence, teletraining, and web-based synchronous and asynchronous training content to improve human performance to meet this warning mission. Its primary goal is to increase expertise in warning decision making among NOAA/NWS personnel and their core partners so that they can better serve the public during warning operations and build an effective Weather-Ready Nation (WRN). WDTD develops training on Root Cause Analysis to diagnosis the human, technological and scientific factors in the warning process. WDTD facilitates NOAA’s Research to Operations mission by being collocated and working closely with the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and the University of Oklahoma’s (OU) Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS).
Contact
Jim Keeney
jim.keeney@noaa.gov
816-994-3003
The NWS has initiated Impact Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) to provide better, more useful information to partners, emergency managers, and decision makers to foster an appropriate public response as part of Weather-Ready Nation plans. This involves realigning warning messages in terms of societal impacts, and expressing levels of confidence that these impacts will occur and requires training on this new method of communicating. The Decision Support and Communication Services Division provides training to Warning Coordination Meteorologists (WCM), Service Coordination Hydrologists (SCH) and other NWS employees who routinely deal with the media and other external partners. Training offerings include Decision Support Services (DSS) Bootcamps, WCM/SCH workshops, and a host of online modules for improving communications.
Contact
James Poole
jim.poole@noaa.gov
816-994-3002
This Division provides maintenance training services on highly specialized NWS equipment to staff responsible for maintaining infrastructural systems. The target audience typically includes Electronic Systems Analysts, Information Technology Officers, IT Specialists, etc. Training on upper-air equipment, radar, surface observing systems, radio transmitters and the console replacement system is essential to ensuring continuity of operations during a potential system failure. Other courses focus on developing proficiency in various operating systems and computer languages for use in AWIPS and other field systems which use computers to process and provide data and information. Special courses to operate sophisticated equipment, such as AWIPS, are developed and taught. The division also hosts safety training classes such as fall protection for climbers.
Contact
Jeffrey Zeltwanger
jeffrey.zeltwanger@noaa.gov
816-994-3017
This Division is charged with supporting career development for all NWS employees, helping cultivate skills in the areas of leadership and career planning. The NWS Leadership Academy will collaborate with other entities in the NWS (OOE, other OCLO divisions, Portfolio Offices, Regions, and local training officers) and across NOAA to build an agency-wide portfolio of end-to-end employee development: from new hires through executive leadership. The division will support the development of learning paths and growth opportunities for employees in all job series, including but not limited to: mentoring, coaching, residence courses, and online training.
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