1. Flash Flood Guidance System (FFGS)
Paul Pilon
Climate and Water Department
Hydrological Forecasting and Water Resources Division

2. Objectives
The main objectives of the Flash Flood Guidance System with global coverage are to:
Enhance NMHSs capacity to issue flash flood warnings and alerts to mitigate the adverse impacts of hydrometeorological hazards, by:
Generating flash flood early warning products using state-of-the-art hydrometerological forecasting models;
Providing extensive training to the hydrometeorological forecasters;
Enhancing collaboration between NMHSs and Disaster/Emergency Management Agencies;

3. What is a Flash Flood?
A flood of short duration with a relatively high peak discharge usually having less than 6 hours between the occurrence of the rainfall and the peak
Short fuse, hard to predict events
Lack of flash flood warning capabilities and capacities of NHMSs,
Lack of local expertise and regional cooperation,
Ineffectiveness of riverine flood warning systems for flash floods,
Flash floods causes annually thousands of deaths and inflict heavy economical losses worldwide.

4. Global Flash Flood Guidance System
The Flash Flood Guidance System with global coverage consists of eight regional FFGS Systems in different stages of development and operational use. Four systems are operational, initial versions were implemented for four, and one is under development

5. South East Europe FFG (SEEFFG) (under implementation): Turkey (RC), Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, Moldova, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Kosovo
(Regional Centre)

6. SEEFFGS Forecaster Console
Snow Products
Products, Date and Time Selection Toolbar
FFGS Products
Surface Met. Observations
Time Interval
SEEEFFG forecaster console contains the following products: MWGHE (Micro Wave adjusted Global Hydrometeor Estimator) precipitation, GHE (Global Hydro Estimator) precipitation, Gauge MAP (Mean Areal Precipitation based on gauge data only) , Merged MAP, ASM (Average Soil Moisture) , FFG (Flash Flood Guidance), IFFT (Imminent Flash Flood Threat), PFFT (Persistence Flash Flood Threat), ALADIN Forecast, FMAP (Forecast Mean Areal Precipitation), FFFT (Forecast Flash Flood Threat). (Product descriptions are provided in the next section). Snow products including Gauged MAT (Mean Areal Temperature), Latest IMS SCA (Snow Coverage Area), SWE (Snow Water Equivalent), and MELT are displayed at the bottom of the main interface.

7. SEEFFGS Dashboard
Dashboard console is designed to monitor server processes and :
(2) Real-Time data downloads and inventory status;
(3) Real-Time Data processing status;
(4) Computational server status; and
(5)Dissemination server status.
Animation Button 2 3 4 5
Dashboard console has four main toolbars – including Real Time Data Download and Inventory Status (2) Real Time Data Processing Status (3), Computational Server Status (4) and Dissemination Server Status (5).

8. Basin Delineations

9. Precipitation Products - Overview

10. Average Soil Moisture

11. Flash Flood Guidance (FFG)

12. ALADIN (ALARO) QPF and FMAP

13. Forecast Flash Flood Threat (FFFT)

14. Flash Flood Hydrometeorologist Training Programme
Training is and integral part of regional FFG Systems and consists of five steps:
Step-1: Introductory in-country workshops and meetings such as Steering Committee Meetings;
Step-2: On line eLearning comprises elements of meteorology, hydrology, flash flood guidance, GIS, and remote sensing;
Step-3: Advanced operations and interactive simulator training at the Hydrologic Research Center (HRC), USA;
Step-4: Regional operations training workshop toward qualification of WMO flash flood trainer certificate;
Step-5: Regional operation sustainability workshop provided by the WMO certified trainer.

15. FFGS Advances Multi-NWP Model ingestion
Urban Flash Flood Early Warning System
World Bank may support for the implementation of Landslide/Mudflow and Riverine Routing in the CARFFG system
Landslide Susceptibility Mapping
Expandable and Scalable Riverine Routing  (Riverine Forecasting)

16. Possible Linkages Between SWFDP and regional FFG Systems
SAOFFGS-SWFDP-SAO
MRFFGS-SWFDP-SEA
SAsaiFFGS-SWFDP-BoB
CARFFGS-SWFDP-CA
BSMEFFGS-SWFDP-SEE
SARFFGS-SWFDP-SA
CAFFGS-SWFDP-Caribbean

17. Twinning of SWFWP-SA and SARFFG Systems
Objectives:
Mitigate the adverse impacts of hydrometeorological hazards by:
Enhancing user interfaces and expand the suite of products available to forecasters;
Developing products and information that addresses needs of users to reduce loss of lives and livelihoods due to extreme hydrometeorological events.

18. Twinning of SWFWP-SA and SARFFG System
Disaster Management Agency
and
Citizen Centric Products

19. Considerations Moving from Severe Weather to Flooding
Flash Floods to Riverine Floods
Not all riverine floods result from “severe weather”
Snowmelt, rain and snowmelt, ice jams, reservoir operations, dam breaks (including GLOFs)
Riverine hazards are not constrained to flooding
Ice is melting -- “Stay off the ice”!!!
Citizen Centric Messaging (Impact based?)
Amazing potential…
Best practices?
“Standardization of thresholds across jurisdictions?”
How can the public interpret different products if based on different threshold approaches across jurisdictions?
Flood (hazard/risk) Mapping -- GIS/GPS/mobile applications
Riverine and urban flood warning linkages

20. Thank you
Merci