"Copious amounts of tropical moisture flowed northward from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico into eastern Colorado on September 9-16, 2013. The combination of a slow moving upper-level system over the Great Basin region, favorable upslope easterly flow along the Front Range, and the presence of a stalled frontal system resulted in several episodes of torrential rainfall. The heaviest rain fell on the evenings of September 11-12. By week's end, a swath of 8-17 inches of rain resulted in widespread, devastating flash flooding in the South Platte River Basin from Denver downstream to western Nebraska and in the upper Arkansas River Basin along the upper Fountain Creek. There were eight fatalities directly attributed to the flooding. Because of the significant impacts of the event, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service formed a service assessment team to evaluate its performance before and during the record flooding. The findings and recommendations from this assessment will be factored into the 2015 Annual Operating Plan to improve the quality of operational National Weather Service products and services and enhance its ability to provide an increase in public education and awareness materials relating to flash flooding, areal flooding, and river flooding. The ultimate goal of this report is to help the National Weather Service meet its mission of protecting lives and property and enhancing the national economy"--Preface.
"The combination of a surface low-pressure system located along a stationary frontal boundary off the U.S. Southeast coast, a slow moving upper low to the west, and a persistent plume of tropical moisture associated with Hurricane Joaquin resulted in...
"Mother's Day Weekend, May 10-11, 2008, brought severe weather to many sections of the country. The greatest impact was in northeast Oklahoma and southwest Missouri. A tornado, rated EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, moved southeast from the town of ...
"A violent tornado, rated F4 on the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale (see appendix A), moved across southern Maryland and devastated the town of La Plata. Tornadoes along the Atlantic coast are not common, and tornadoes of this magnitude are extremely ...
"During a 12-hour period in the evening and early morning of February 5-6, 2008, 87 tornadoes occurred in nine states with 57 fatalities in four states. This is the second largest February tornado outbreak since 1950 (beginning year of official torna...
"Hurricane Charley made landfall on the southwest coast of Florida near Cayo Costa, just west of Ft. Myers around 3:45 p.m. EDT on August 13, with maximum sustained surface winds near 150 mph. This made Charley a category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpso...
"On the evening of April 8, 1998, tornadoes powerful as F5 on the Fujita Scale swept through the northern half of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia causing considerable loss of life, injuries and property loss. The National Weather Service's Southern...
"During the winter and spring of 2010-2011, record to near-record setting snow fell across a large portion of the northern United States Rocky Mountains and eastward into the Northern Plains states. A cool spring held the snowpack in place later than...
"January 6-8, 1996, a major "nor'easter" paralyzed the Eastern Seaboard for the better part of a week. Right on the heels of a Federal Government shutdown that furloughed most Federal employees, some of the heaviest snow of the late 20th century blan...
"Torrential rains over south and southeast Texas during the weekend of October 17-18, 1998, led to widespread and deadly flooding. A total of 31 people died during this event, and property damage estimates approached three quarters of a billion dolla...
"During June 2008, record or major flooding occurred across large areas of the central United States. The flooding had devastating impacts, with 11 people losing their lives. Damages have been estimated at over $5 billion. The states most severely af...
"During the afternoon and evening of March 1, 2007, deadly tornadoes moved across southern Alabama and Georgia. In a 14-hour period beginning at 12:30 p.m. CST, 31 tornadoes occurred, resulting in 19 fatalities across the two states. Eleven of the to...
"On June 14, 2005, an earthquake measuring magnitude 7.2 occurred approximately 90 miles off the northern California coast, prompting NOAA's West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami warning for the West Coast of the United Stat...
"At approximately 4:00 p.m. local time on March 6, 2004, a cluster of thunderstorms moved through the Baltimore metropolitan area producing wind gusts of 40 to 55 mph. A water taxi loaded with 25 people in Baltimore's Inner Harbor capsized in the thu...
"This report on the series of tornadoes which struck central Texas on May 27, 1997, was prepared by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Service Assessment Team following a 4-day visit to the storm sites. The meteorological analys...
"On May 1-2, 2010, record-breaking rains struck Kentucky and the Tennessee Valley region. Western and Middle Tennessee were hardest hit with local amounts of 18-20 inches to the south and west of Greater Nashville along the Interstate 40 corridor. Mu...
"Large scale weather patterns allowed tropical moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee and the Atlantic Ocean to stream northward across the Mid-Atlantic Region, September 6-9, 2011. This pattern allowed continuous rain, very heavy at times,...
"Super Typhoon Pongsona (Pong-sahn-WAH) was one of the most intense typhoons to ever strike the island of Guam. It was comparable to Super Typhoon Paka (1997) and was exceeded only by Karen (1962) and the Typhoon of 1900. Due to the magnitude of this...
"On June 29, 2012, a devastating line of thunderstorms known as a derecho (deh REY cho) moved east-southeast at 60 miles per hour (mph) from Indiana in the early afternoon to the Mid-Atlantic region around midnight. The states most significantly impa...
"The year 2011 began with extremely wet soil conditions over much of the northern plains in the north central United States. By early March, significant snow had accumulated over the same region resulting in one of the highest snow-water equivalents ...
"The primary purpose of this Service Assessment is to document the National Weather Service's (NWS) performance in fulfilling its mission of providing timely warnings and accurate forecasts prior to and during the tornado outbreak of March 1, 1997, i...
"The combination of a surface low-pressure system located along a stationary frontal boundary off the U.S. Southeast coast, a slow moving upper low to the west, and a persistent plume of tropical moisture associated with Hurricane Joaquin resulted in...