impact based decision support from a state liaison office perspective brian montgomery & ian lee...

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Impact Based Decision Support from a State Liaison Office

Perspective

Brian Montgomery & Ian Lee NWS Albany

WFO BGM Sub-Regional Workshop 2015

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Objectives

Decision Support Services (DSS) as a state liaison officeLocal training initiatives Examples of state liaison activities Benefits of DSS

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Transparent Communications

Decision Support Services (DSS)

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Email

Telephone

Social Media

OEM/EOC

NWSChat

DSS Communication Channels

BUF

BGM

BTV

OKX

ALY

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NWS Albany DSS Training PlanIncident Command courses (ICS)

Intro to ICSICS for Single Resource and Initial Action IncidentsNIMS: an IntroductionNational Response Framework: an Introduction

New York State Emergency Operations Courses*EOC CourseDisaster-LAN for EOC Personnel

NOAA/NWS CoursesDispersion BasicsHYSPLIT Applications for Emergency Decision SupportBasic Briefing Training for Incident SupportCrisis Communication Module 1&2Media Training

Hurricane SupportHURREVAC SoftwareThin-Client

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• For major events (partial or full activations)• Usually embedded in the Planning Section*

NYSOEM On Site Support

ICS 700

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State Liaison DSS Briefings…

Created for a large range of users (e.g. utilities, DOH, DOT, police, Red Cross, Military)

Typically, heads of gov’t (e.g. Governor’s office) also present

Keep briefings brief – focus on the highlightsUsually provided during shift change or for significant weather changes (ex. track of a hurricane changes)

STAY ON MESSAGEIncorporate thinking from surrounding NWS offices (consolidate the message)*

nwsalbany.dss@noaa.gov

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What Should The Briefing Contain?Start with an OverviewFocus on the “3 W’s” of impacts

What are the impactsWhen will the impacts occurWhere will the impacts occur

Always important to incorporate confidence as wellUse probabilistic guidance when available!

Use regional-based graphicsGIS allows for greater customization and appealing graphicsEnhanced Digital Display (EDD)

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Briefing Examples

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Hurricane Sandy

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More Recent DSS Activations

Prospect St. in Herkimer, NY, on June 28, 2013

Blizzard Warnings for Long IslandWinter Storm Warnings for Upstate NYJanuary 2014

Other deployments: November 2014 Buffalo Lake Effect Snow

and Flooding January 2015 Northeast Blizzard

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State Liaison DSS Benefits

Consolidated and coordinated message allows for 1 forecast voiceOn-site deployments to state EOC allow for person to person interactions with various state agenciesPersonally interact with agency representatives and share information to other NWS officesCo-learning opportunities with state representatives through Statewide Learning Management System (SLMS)

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Summary

DSS critical to fulfilling the WRN initiativeCommunication Transparency Co-learning Incident Command CoursesBuilding Core Partnerships

From the Governor's Office during Hurricane Sandy:“Brian, thank you for taking a complex science and breaking it down to simplistic standards”

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Thank You!!

Questions?

Brian.Montgomery@noaa.gov | Ian.Lee@noaa.gov