(Nov. 5, 2007) - With no substantial relief in sight for southeastern states plagued with Exceptional drought conditions, the National Weather Service Southeast River Forecast Center has added new products and services to help customers cope with an increasingly difficult situation. Two key elements of the forecast center's efforts to augment its traditional services are the addition of a Water Watch web page and a multi-media Water Resources Outlook.
The Water Resources Outlook provides long term hydrometeorological information in a series of graphical illustrations, supplemented with easy-to-understand audio interpretation. Presented in a PowerPoint format, the outlook is frequently updated to reflect the latest developments.
To access the outlook, visit: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/alr and click on the Water Resources Outlook icon. The current presentation includes vital information on river systems in portions of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
The staff at the Southeast River Forecast Center is also updating its Water Watch page. The current focus is on inflows into the hardest-hit reservoirs in northern Alabama and Georgia, including Lakes Lanier and Allatoona. Short and long term water resources outlook information is being provided for these areas.
In addition, the forecast center's Senior Hydrologist and Water Resources Manager, Todd Hamill, is actively updating federal and state officials through multi-media briefings or on-site constituent meetings. To access the Water Watch page, visit: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/alr and click on the Critical Water Watch icon.
In addition to gathering all the meteorological and climatological data used to ascertain the severity and extent of the drought, National Weather Service forecast offices in the area have also been very pro-active in supporting local officials. The offices serving Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia issue Drought Information Statements, participate in numerous conference calls; and, provide comprehensive web site support, data and information for water resource managers and local and state emergency management officials.
"We are now entering a more critical phase of the drought in the southeast," said John Feldt, hydrologist-in-charge of the Southeast River Forecast Center. "Local and state officials are pondering far-reaching actions in coping with the drought and the possibility of community water shortages. We are committed to supporting them any way we can."
The U.S. Government also unveiled a new Web site this month for the public and civic managers to monitor drought conditions, get forecasts and learn how drought impacts their communities or what mitigation measures exist.
Called the U.S. Drought Portal, the site was developed for the National Integrated Drought Information System, which is the result of collaboration between numerous federal agencies and state governments to provide dynamic and accessible drought-risk information. To access the Drought Portal, visit: www.drought.gov.
