Assigned to WFO Houston/Galveston MIC - Jeff Evans SRH - Melinda Bailey Co-Located with Galveston County Emergency Management Office 2K Budget for Travel and Office supplies PMO Vehicle, Cell Phone and Laptop computer provided by SRH Assist in outreach programs and other office functions as directed by the MIC PMO HOUSTON CHRIS FAKES Retired LCDR USN 28 years PMO 12 years

FREEPORT BEAUMONT PORT ARTHUR LAKE CHARLES CORPUS CHRISTI Corpus Christi 230 mi Lake Charles 145 mi Port Orange 115 mi Port Arthur 92 mi Beaumont 89 mi Freeport 49 mi HOUSTON Area of Responsibility PORT ORANGE HOUSTON

HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL 52 miles long 2 nd Busiest U.S. Port Average 80 to 100 ships daily Over 200 private facilities / docks Panamax Vessels Capable GALVESTON TEXAS CITY CITY DOCKS BAYTOWN Almost every type of vessel you can think of comes in and out of Houston

HOUSTON OBSERVATION COUNTS All Manual Reporters using Electronic Logbook (AMVERSEAS / TurboWin) Number of new drill ships coming online (GOM - West Africa) 63

Houston is home to a number of large Shipping Companies. - Maintain close liaison -Provide annual Hurricane Briefing -NOAA/NWS related information TransOcean Inc. Diamond Offshore American Eagle Tankers Pacific Drilling InterMarine Inc. SeaDrill Inc. To Mariners and Shipping Companies, the PMO is the face of NOAA. Field a lot of questions on Meteorology, Oceanography, Nautical Charts, Marine Life, and “Climate Change” LECTURES / PRESENTATIONS USCG Sector 8 / Houston Port Authority Annual Hurricane briefing Nautical Institute (Gulf Coast Chapter) San Jacinto Junior College (Maritime Program) Council of American Master Mariners (SE Texas Chapter) Pilots Houston / Freeport / Sabine Yacht Clubs & Coastal Communities Greater Houston Community Managers Association Wrote Hurricane Preparedness for Recreational Boaters

Texas A&M Maritime College Galveston 3-4 Lectures per year Basic Marine Meteorology / Oceanography Tropical Meteorology Storm Evasion North Wall Effect Chart & Product Interpretation Marine Weather Observations NWS/NOAA Products and other services Training Vessel T/V GENERAL RUDDER 4 to 5 Training Cruises per year (GOM) Small ship Limited number of bunks and class room area Provide additional onboard training prior to cruise

CHALLENGES SECURITY Houston is home to the largest Petro/Chemical complex in the U.S. Some Facilities require 24 to 48 hrs visit notice. Visit requests are submitted by the Local Agent. SAFETY 4 facilities require yearly safety training (1-3 hrs) for access. In the future might have to pay for this training. PMO job can be dangerous! RECRUITMENT Now primarily accomplished thru Shipping Companies and Maritime Colleges. Maintaining a good relationship is a must. Trying to keep up with NWS/NOAA changes in products and KNOWLEGDE Trying to keep up with NWS/NOAA changes in products and services. services.

Parking in and around docks is always a challenge. Boxed in for 1½ hours in 93 0 Sometimes just getting onto a ship is challenging and dangerous. OTHER UNIQUE CHALLENGES

FOCUS & GOALS TurboWin installation 18% complete. All Houston ships transitioned over by summer Recruit entire Pacific Drilling Fleet. Developing Houston Ship Channel Petro/Chem Information Book containing location, owner, dock length & height, special considerations.

PMO CONFERENCE OUTCOME VOS PROGRAM PROGRESS PROGRESS Establishing clear VOS Goals Short & Long Term Establishing a VOS Equipment Life Cycle Support Plan MOVEMENT MOVEMENT Database Upgrades to make it a useful tool Establishing VOS Awards Guidelines COMMITMENT COMMITMENT Improve communications and coordination between NDBC, Regions and PMOs Promoting VOS within NWS and NOAA

Importance of Marine Weather Obs A slide I like to show the Cadets at Texas A&M

JUST ONE MORE SLIDE Slide #108