What is a Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) Ambassador?

The devastating impacts of extreme events like record-breaking snowfall, deadly extreme heat, destructive wind storms, widespread flooding, and devastating drought can be reduced by taking advanced action, which is why the Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) initiative is so important. While we at NOAA are taking steps towards building a Weather-Ready Nation, we can not do it alone!

Any organization committed to serving as an example and engaging their stakeholders to make this country ready, responsive, and resilient can be a WRN Ambassador. Whether talking about preparedness and resilience in your home, office, at community centers, within schools or local businesses, on your website, or on social media, you will be helping to spread the word, inspire others to take action, and helping our great nation become more weather-ready.

WRN Ambassadors commit to: 

• Promoting Weather-Ready Nation messages and themes to their stakeholders;
• Engaging with NOAA personnel on potential collaboration opportunities;
• Sharing their success stories of preparedness and resiliency;
• Serving as an example by educating employees on workplace preparedness

To support your efforts, NOAA can:

• Provide outreach content about creating a Weather-Ready Nation;
• Explore innovative approaches for collaboration with your organization;
• Assist with StormReady®/TsunamiReady™ opportunities for communities;
• Recognize your organization as a WRN Ambassador; and
• Share the WRN Ambassador logo for your use.

In addition, NWS Seattle Provides:

• Opportunities for feedback on NWS products & services
• Seasonal outreach materials
• Calls to action resources for major weather events if needed
• Recognition on our WRN Ambassador wall on the NOAA Western Regional Center campus

How do I get involved?

To become a WRN Ambassador, simply submit your application here. It's free and only takes a few moments.

WRN Ambassadors of Excellence

NOAA and the National Weather Service are proud to recognize “Ambassadors of Excellence” -- a select number of WRN Ambassador organizations that have made significant contributions to building a Weather-Ready Nation. By serving as change agents and leaders in their communities, Ambassadors of Excellence have:

• Inspired others to take action and become ready, responsive, and resilient
• Created innovative ways to engage their community, their workforce, and/or their social network
• Formed unique collaborations with NOAA and/or other ambassador organizations to achieve goals they alone could not meet
• Embraced building “a Weather-Ready Nation for All” by addressing vulnerable populations’ needs.

NWS Seattle Ambassadors of Excellence:

• 2023: King County Regional Homelessness Authority
  The King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) is an exceptional example of a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador. Since 2022, KCRHA has proactively engaged with the NWS on topics that directly affect the tens of thousands of individuals experiencing homelessness in King County, WA. From extreme temperatures to winter storms, KCRHA has been eager to leverage the latest NWS resources to better prepare one of our most vulnerable populations for hazardous weather. In addition, by leveraging flyers, outreach teams, and their blog, KCRHA shares hazardous weather forecasts as well as relevant actions directly with those experiencing homelessness. Finally, KCRHA has been an advocate for a Weather-Ready Nation by sharing its success stories with the NWS and even participating as a panelist on a recent NOAA Leadership Competencies Development Program (LCDP) panel discussion. 
   
• 2022: City of Marysville

  The City of Marysville is a shining example of a Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) Ambassador. In 2022, the city introduced their Marysville Ready Business initiative wherein local businesses and organizations commit to taking steps toward preparing for disasters in their community. The city took it a step further by working with NWS Seattle to integrate the WRN Ambassador program directly into their initiative. As a result, these ambassadors have posted disaster information and NWS seasonal weather safety information in businesses and community message boards within the city. Their continued efforts to reach out to businesses and organizations has resulted in the City of Marysville accounting for over a third of the new ambassadors signed up for NWS Seattle in 2022 to date. As a result, we recognize the City of Marysville as a 2022 Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador of Excellence.

• 2021: Grays Harbor County (WA) Emergency Management
  In addition to their role and sharing of vital weather information as a core partner, Grays Harbor County Emergency Management (GHCDEM) continues to be a leader as a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador in western Washington. Not only do they proactively share NWS weather information before and during high-impact weather events in their community through their social media platforms, but they also relay critical weather information back to the NWS. GHCDEM also organizes and hosts regular community preparedness events with the goal of ensuring the population is prepared for all hazards. Finally, GHCDEM proactively reached out to NWS Seattle when they were bringing their new public alerting system online in order to ensure their population would receive the most timely and accurate information. Thank you to GHCDEM for displaying excellence as a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador!
   
• 2020: Cascade Olympic Weather - Facebook Group (Leader: Greg Carstens)
  The Cascade Olympic Weather Facebook Group has been an exceptional example of a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador in Western Washington. Not only does the group serve as a fantastic way for their community to stay informed on the local weather, but also seasonal and high-impact weather safety information. They also regularly keep in touch with the NWS Seattle office through social media and provides the NWS with feedback and timely ground truth observations. Feedback from visitors to the page is always positive, for example, "Since finding the 'Cascade Olympic Weather' page on Facebook it has become an asset in my planning process. [Their] tireless efforts to continually keep the community informed has helped those within our community, like myself, to stay resilient in preparation for extreme weather events for the safety of our families and livestock, planning safe camping/hiking trips, or to know when the weather is right for outdoor family events." Kudos to the Cascade Olympic Weather Facebook Group, keep up the great work!
   
• 2017: Public Health Seattle & King County
  Seattle-King County Public Health has been a major force multiplier and message enhancer to the greater Seattle Metro Area and enabled the NWS to connect their messages with our most vulnerable populations. They have translated general weather preparedness materials into dozens of languages and they share NWS high-impact weather event briefings through the Community Communications Network that connects our information to hundreds of individuals and organizations who serve the most vulnerable populations locally. This includes individuals living as homeless, the elderly, disabled, non-English speaking (over 100 different languages), refugee and immigrant groups, and low-income families. These are groups who typically may not be reached fully by NWS messages or preparedness info, but now they are thanks to the amazing efforts of this Ambassador.