An Overview and Lessons Learned from National Weather Service Decision Support Services for the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX Todd Lericos National Weather Service – Las Vegas, NV Keith Meier National Weather Service – Billings, MT Jeff Zimmerman, Scott Birch, Scott Carpenter, Leslie Wanek National Weather Service, Western Region Headquarters, Salt Lake City UT

Super Bowl XLIX Second time NFL has co-located Pro-Bowl and Super Bowl PGA Waste Management Open Golf Tournament held on same week Entire Phoenix Metro involved in some way (massive Incident Command issue ) Designated National Security Special Event by Homeland Security $719 million in local revenues 1.5 million visitors in the Greater Phoenix area 500k visitors to the PGA Event – 120k in a single day! 750k passengers at KPHX the day after Super Bowl (record)

NWS Operations Plan Comprehensive internal planning document for NWS Support Detailed plans for routine support and mechanisms in place to expand support Essential for resource allocation and planning Organizational Structure (Internal) Products/Services Workflow Structure Collaboration Guidelines and Schedule Operational Playbooks (Routine/Non-Routine) Service Backup Operations Plan Shift Duty Schedules / Briefing Schedules Contact Information Deployed Unit Locations

NWS Deployed Units Glendale ICP NWS Office MACC/PHX ICP PHX TRACON Stadium NFL Experience Waste Management Open Golf Tournament LAS TRACON Deployed NWS UnitVenue Locations 5 miles

NWS Deployed Units MACC & City of Phoenix - Incident Command Post Multi-Agency Coordination Center - nerve center for all SB operations Co-Located with PHX ICP – served as incident command for downtown activities Valerie Meyers (PSR) and Mike Paddock (VEF)

NWS Deployed Units Glendale - Incident Command Post ICP for University of Phoenix Stadium and other venues in the vicinity Served as a forward logistics area for emergencies (ambulances, helicopters etc.) Carl Cerniglia (TWC)

NWS Deployed Units KPHX TRACON / Sky Harbor Airport Support to air traffic surge Jessica Nolte (PSR) KLAS TRACON Support to air traffic surge Super Bowl Sunday Reid Wolcott (VEF)

Organizational Structure / Chain of Command Defined a clear Chain of Command Each position had a clearly defined job description in the Ops Plan

Products/Services Workflow Structure Critical to ensure consistency of messaging to public and core partners Illustrates the need for collaboration

Service Backup Plan Ensured continuity of operations at all deployed locations Highlighted the need for information sharing between units

Internal Coordination Assisted forecasters with shift planning and resource allocation Provided global awareness of who needs information and at what time

Phoenix always has good weather? 27 Jan – Rainfall ( inches) 28 Jan – Rainfall (0.05 – 0.15 inches) 29 Jan – Rainfall / Fog ( inches) 30 Jan – Rainfall / Fog ( inches) 31 Jan – Rainfall / Fog (0.05 – 0.15 inches) 01 Feb - Dense Fog (<1 SM) for 5 hours!

After-Action Process Robust Plan developed and supported by Western Region HQ Had to be done quickly and address internal and external processes Key Core Partners interviewed by independent NWS personnel Strengths, Areas of Improvement and Action Items developed

Lessons Learned Building partnerships ahead of time are absolutely critical (BE PERSISTENT) Must surge resources to support major events The need for detailed and comprehensive Operations Plan is required Do not underestimate the amount of support you will be asked to provide Use of Cloud space and unified address was very efficient Frequent communication between NWS units is essential – as is the need for a central authority to facilitate collaboration and consistency

Thank You! Questions? #NWA