Weather News
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How weather, climate impacted the January 2025 California wildfires
How weather, climate impacted the January 2025 California wildfiresThe Pacific Palisades Fire near Malibu, California, which started on January 7, 2025. (Image credit: Adobe stock photo.)
Download Image February 20, 2025
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How NOAA sanctuaries fuel local economies
How NOAA sanctuaries fuel local economies(Image credit: Robert Schwemmer/NOAA)
Download Image February 20, 2025
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ProTechnology Innovation Showcase: Unmanned Platforms
ProTechnology Innovation Showcase: Unmanned Platforms February 19, 2025A very successful ProTechnology Innovation Showcase was held on February 12, 2025 featuring unmanned data collection and image capture platforms. We had over 130 attendees and featured presentations from six different ProTech Prime vendors and their teams. Please find a copy of their presentations below:
Real-Time Insights: Transforming Marine Data Collection with Cutting-Edge Solutions
Uncrewed Data Collection Platforms
NOAA ProTechnology Innovation Showcase Transforming NOAA’s Mission with Advanced USV
NOAA Protech Innovation Showcase
Animal Detection and Size Estimation For: NOAA ProTech-nology Innovation Showcase
Coastal Oil Spill Restoration Monitoring Using sUAS LiDAR/Orthophotography
Please keep an eye out for the next ProTechnology Innovation Showcase as we plan to hold them regularly and a wide variety of topics, you can find more information on our news and events page. If you have suggestions for a topic for our next event or wish to provide feedback on our initial gathering, we encourage you to share your thoughts by completing this Google form: Link to Feedback Form offsite link
Thank you for your time and we look forward to seeing you at the next ProTechnology Innovation Showcase.
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Friday Find: 1970s winter storm PSAs, a 'record' from NOAA's past
Friday Find: 1970s winter storm PSAs, a 'record' from NOAA's pastA vinyl record labeled, “Winter Storms Announcements,” in a plain black sleeve. (Image credit: NOAA Heritage)
Download Image February 21, 2025This vinyl record was found for sale at a record shop in Washington, D.C., in 2024. To an audiophile, the label might seem curious at first: “Winter Storms” could plausibly be the title of an old jazz or heavy metal record. The black cardboard sleeve is enigmatic and intriguing, with corners worn from years of use.
But this record isn’t full of tunes. It's a package of friendly public service messages (PSAs) about weather preparedness. Each 30 or 60 second selection provides information on topics like home safety, winter travel, and the care of livestock during extremely cold weather.
Although not officially stamped with a date, we know for certain this Department of Commerce recording was made after 1970, when the National Weather Service (formerly the National Weather Bureau) was established and became part of the new agency called NOAA.
Close of a vinyl record labeled, “Winter Storms Announcement,” and listing 10 tracks of deferring safety tips for winter storms. (Image credit: NOAA Heritage) Download ImageSince the end of World War II, the Federal Communications Commission has required radio stations to serve public interest by playing PSAs from government agencies and non-profits in between regular broadcasts. This record might have been made for use on regular AM/FM radio networks. The deep grooves in between each message would have allowed a station disc jockey to queue up the record and hit play as needed in between broadcasts of music or news.
But there’s also a likelihood that this record was played on early versions of what is now known as NOAA Weather Radio, a nationwide network of stations broadcasting weather information directly from area weather offices 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
NOAA Weather Radio grew out of the U.S. Weather Bureau’s experiments with broadcasting aviation-related information in Chicago and New York in the 1950s. Today, the radio network consists of over 1,000 transmitters on frequencies throughout the United States, as well as in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and Saipan. To listen to the transmissions you must have an official NOAA radio.
Listen to the full record!
Audio file
Transcript TranscriptPDF Transcript
Transcript_ NWS Winter Storm Warning vinyl.pdf (54.57 KB)
A vinyl record labeled, “Winter Storms Announcement,” listing 10 tracks of safety tips for winter storms. (Image credit: NOAA Heritage) Download ImageDisclaimers:
Track #2: Please note that frostbite can occur without wind.
Track #10: NOAA no longer issues stockman’s warnings. Some National Weather Service offices do generate a forecast to raise awareness on potentially dangerous cold temperatures for newborn livestock.
For the National Weather Service's current weather safety information and guidelines, please visit Weather Safety for All Hazards.
Preparedness tips are now mostly broadcast via the web and cell phones. But cell towers can be vulnerable to high winds during events like hurricanes and tornadoes, and the NOAA radio network still has an important role to play in areas not reachable by cell service.
The record shop owner who discovered this Friday Find recalled that it looked and sounded a lot like another record discovered by the NOAA Heritage team last year featuring tornado safety announcements. The owner got in touch with a NOAA staff member who often shops in his store.
Do you have any weather warning records like the ones featured in our story? Let us know!
Have an idea for an artifact, photo, or document from NOAA’s history that you think we should feature in “Friday Finds!”? Send an email with a description and, if possible, a photo to heritage.program@noaa.gov.
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New historical dataset closes gaps between NOAA tide stations
New historical dataset closes gaps between NOAA tide stationsThis image from CORA captures historical maximum water levels for the entire South Carolina coastline. Water-level observations were previously only available from one location, a tide gauge represented by the blue star in the image. The CORA dataset fills gaps in water level observations between tide stations providing historical water levels at each of the red, orange, and yellow dots, spaced every 500 meters along the coast. (Image credit: NOAA)
Download Image February 18, 2025
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