Office Description:

The Gaylord National Weather Service office is located 9 miles southwest of town.  With our WSR88D Doppler Radar, perched on a hill top in the North-Central Lower Peninsula...we have Forecast, Watch, Warning and Advisory responsibility over a 25 County Warning Area (CWA), which includes 2 counties in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.  In addition to standard public products:

• We compose aviation forecasts (TAF’s) for four sites: Manistee ,Alpena, Pellston and Traverse City.
• We have a unique hydrology program with several dams, and several forecast points.
• A comprehensive and challenging Marine Program consisting of over 750 miles of shoreline.
• There are six automated surface observing systems (ASOS): Traverse City, Gaylord, Pellston, Sault Ste. Marie, Alpena and Houghton Lake, the latter 3 are LCD Climate sites.
• The 3 ASOS sites at the TAF locations are backed up by either CWO’s or SAWRS observers. There are 4 additional SAWRS locations supporting state AWOS’s at regional airfields.
• The Cline Award Winning upper air program at WFO APX, is utilizing the Radiosonde Replacement System (RRS).
• We have the finest cooperative observer program in the region with over 60 cooperative sites, including 9 FP/FPU’s.
• The office is also host to Climate Reference Network (CRN) site.
• The office operates six NOAA radio transmitters for Traverse City, Gaylord, Alpena, West Branch, Sault Ste. Marie and Petoskey.
• We have a comprehensive training philosophy, with personalized training plans for each operational employee.
• Our Fire Weather Program is a very critical part of operations. We work closely with major land management agencies (DNR, USFS, NPS) to coordinate weather and fire behavior in Michigan’s Northern Lower Peninsula.
• We have a very active outreach program, performing Severe Weather Spotter training in every county at least once per year.
  -  As of this writing, our spotter database held roughly 1,300 trained spotters, with a net growth of around 150 per year.
  -  Ongoing training and interaction with emergency managers, including exercises and Co-Hosting outreach events.
  -  We’re very active in area school systems, providing science, safety and career days talks to students.
  -  We man booths and displays at several annual festivals around the area.

The Otsego Chamber of Commerce is one of the region’s most active and aggressive in attracting industry to the area.  Located at the junction of I75 and M32 (the main North/South and East/West arteries that feed the region), several industries and manufacturers have made Gaylord their central hub.  The economy experienced a boom through the 1990’s…and for a period time, Otsego County was the second fastest growing in the state.  The housing market in Otsego County, is in a position to offer fantastic opportunities for those looking to buy.  Between the: scenic beauty, world class golf, endless miles of snowmobile trails, pristine streams, and lakes that range from “All-Sports” to the perfect secluded fishing hole…Northern Michigan is a major tourist destination and Gaylord is, unabashedly, a tourism based economy.  As such, it is home to some of the most business-friendly folks on the planet, as well as host to services and activities not available in communities more than twice its size.

Education:

Not only can Gaylord meet any vacationer´s recreational needs, but guests will also find the perfect up north retreat in our unique range of accommodations from rustic cabins to full service resorts.  We invite you to come and sample our breathtaking summer sunsets, stunning fall colors and the spectacular snow scenes only Northern Michigan can offer.

To see climate information, go to our Climate section of our webpage.

National Weather Service Gaylord, Michigan