1. NAME U.S. Forecaster Rotation Erik Pytlak NOAA/NWS Tucson, AZ

2. The Process Call issued January 8 Circulated and coordinated widely (NWS, several universities, private sector) Some weight given to practice forecasters in 2003 and SMN-NWS exchange visitors Four member selection committee: (Douglas, Liles, Maddox, Pytlak) 60 applicants 20 forecasters, 10 assistant forecasters, 11 alternates Diverse backgrounds/experiences

3. The Scheduling 5 day rotations = 7 days of travel Work with the NWS home office schedules 11 Alternates (7 within Arizona) –Distant ones to be called upon first –Close-in ones are last minute reserve –Allows NWS offices some flexibility in case of… IMET deployment Illness Promotion/transfer Final schedule posted on NAME website in mid May –Two forecasters and one assistant forecaster each day from July 1-August 19.

4. Timeline May 24-28: Bennett/Bodner visit SMN Mexico City June 1: WFO Tucson library converted to an FOC June 6: Preliminary forecasts begin June 7-10: M. Cortez/J. Carachure visit WFO Tucson June 21: Science Director rotation begins June 21-24: Murphy/Haro visit SMN Mexico City July 1: Full FOC staffing begins at WFO Tucson July 1: JOSS Operations Director on-site at Tucson Aug 9-13: I. Lopez/A. Nacazona visit WFO Tucson Aug 19: Last day of full FOC staffing at Tucson Aug 20-31: Spin-down forecasts as needed

5. Issues to be resolved… Forecast coordination –Methods (e-mail/coordination call) –Coordination times (1500-1800 UTC window) Shift times –7:00-15:30pm MST? –One 7:00-15:30 MST, the other 9:30-18:00 MST? –Assistant Forecaster hours? –Will avoid OT and odd-hours as much as possible Who will lead the Science/Operations Director briefings each day?