Impact Based Decision Support from a State Liaison Office Perspective Brian Montgomery & Ian Lee NWS Albany WFO BGM Sub-Regional Workshop

Objectives Decision Support Services (DSS) as a state liaison office Local training initiatives Examples of state liaison activities Benefits of DSS 2

Transparent Communications Decision Support Services (DSS) 3

Telephon e Social Media OEM/EOC NWSChat DSS Communication Channels *Also coordinate with surrounding NWS offices in NY state (BUF, BTV, OKX, BGM) BUF BGM BTV OKX ALY 4

NWS Albany DSS Training Plan Incident Command courses (ICS) Intro to ICS ICS for Single Resource and Initial Action Incidents NIMS: an Introduction National Response Framework: an Introduction New York State Emergency Operations Courses* EOC Course Disaster-LAN for EOC Personnel NOAA/NWS Courses Dispersion Basics HYSPLIT Applications for Emergency Decision Support Basic Briefing Training for Incident Support Crisis Communication Module 1&2 Media Training Hurricane Support HURREVAC Software Thin-Client 5

For major events (partial or full activations) Usually embedded in the Planning Section* NYSOEM On Site Support 6 ICS 700

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 highlights Usually provided during shift change or for significant weather changes (ex. track of a hurricane changes) STAY ON MESSAGE Incorporate thinking from surrounding NWS offices (consolidate the message)* 7

What Should The Briefing Contain? Start with an Overview Focus on the “3 W’s” of impacts What are the impacts When will the impacts occur Where will the impacts occur Always important to incorporate confidence as well Use probabilistic guidance when available! Use regional-based graphics GIS allows for greater customization and appealing graphics Enhanced Digital Display (EDD) 8

Briefing Examples 9

Hurricane Sandy 10

More Recent DSS Activations Prospect St. in Herkimer, NY, on June 28, 2013 Blizzard Warnings for Long Island Winter Storm Warnings for Upstate NY January 2014 Other deployments: November 2014 Buffalo Lake Effect Snow and Flooding January 2015 Northeast Blizzard 11

State Liaison DSS Benefits Consolidated and coordinated message allows for 1 forecast voice On-site deployments to state EOC allow for person to person interactions with various state agencies Personally interact with agency representatives and share information to other NWS offices Co-learning opportunities with state representatives through Statewide Learning Management System (SLMS) 12

Summary DSS critical to fulfilling the WRN initiative Communication Transparency Co-learning Incident Command Courses Building 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” 13

Thank You!! Questions? | 14