The internationally-recognized rock band Linkin Park has become the first band in the nation to receive StormReady® Supporter recognition, just in time for its 2012 world tour. Officials from the National Weather Service presented a letter of recognition and StormReady signs prior to the band’s concert at the Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas on August 27.
“The StormReady Supporter program has a long history of recognizing businesses and other stationary entities that promote the key StormReady concepts of severe weather awareness, preparedness and safety,” said Rick Smith, warning coordination meteorologist for the NWS forecast office in Norman, Okla. “As the first traveling venue to meet the requirements, the Linkin Park World Tour recognition is truly unique.”
The recognition is the result of a close working relationship between the NWS and Norman-based Weather Decision Technologies, or WDT. WDT uses a variety of data and information, including NWS watches and warnings, to provide the Linkin Park tour with precision weather forecasts and alerts to help keep everyone associated with the tour safe when storms approach.
“This is a great example of the National Weather Service working with our partners in America’s Weather and Climate Industry to provide specialized decision support services,” Smith said. “As we’ve seen in the recent past, large venues with thousands of people in attendance are especially vulnerable to severe weather. Linkin Park recognizes this, and has taken extra steps to develop detailed plans to monitor the weather wherever they are and to take protective actions based on specific weather guidance. ”
The StormReady program is part of the NWS’s working collaboration with the International Association of Emergency Managers, the National Emergency Management Association and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
