Peek inside the National Weather Center: Oklahoma's world-renowned hub for weather science

Virtually every weather researcher and forecast expert in the nation, if not the world, relies on science happening in a 244,000-square-foot building on the south side of the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman.

It's hard to overstate how important the National Weather Center is to the safety and well-being of not just Oklahomans, but people across the world who experience severe weather.

The imposing structure houses several important offices that track, forecast, research and analyze weather patterns, including the National Weather Service and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Its strength, according to experts who work inside the building, is the combination of state, federal and academic organizations that have collectively advanced the science of understanding weather.

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Inside the National Weather Center

On a day-to-day time scale, the most critical function that takes place there happens inside the Weather Forecast Office. The WFO operates 24/7, preparing and disseminating life-saving warnings, watches and advisories for all types of hazardous weather conditions affecting much of Oklahoma and eight counties in Texas.

There's also the Storm Prediction Center, which provides specific forecasts for hazardous weather across the United States. Each day, the SPC releases its Daily Outlook Chart that highlights where severe weather might form over the next week.

The National Severe Storms Laboratory serves a more long-term goal, where researchers study ways to observe and predict severe weather. NSSL Director DaNa Carlis said NWC is the predominant laboratory for observing, understanding and modeling severe weather.

"Oklahomans should be proud that the National Weather Center is located in our state," Carlis said. "It is one of the more unique places across across the country and probably nationally, internationally, where you have federal, state and academic organizations working and collaborating together to solve the world's weather and climate challenges."

Recently, the NSSL and the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed deployed a computer model that gave forecasters a full 75 minutes of lead time before a tornado struck Greenfield, Iowa.

The National Weather Center is also home to the offices of Oklahoma Mesonet, a network of weather monitoring stations around the state; and the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.

Numerous other research institutions call the building home, and academic programs meet in NWC classrooms.

"The Weather Forecast Office and Storm Prediction Center are merely 20 yards away from me. My researchers can walk directly over there and create a very collaborative environment," Carlis said.

History of the National Weather Center

The idea of a one-stop-shop for weather science and forecasting wasn't a new one when the building opened in 2006.

Bill Bunting, who currently serves as deputy director for the Storm Prediction Center, said this type of facility was being discussed in the 1980s when he was at college.

It's no surprise the National Weather Center was built here. On May 3, 1999, its necessity came into sharp focus for the nation.

After the deadly Bridge Creek-Moore tornado that killed 36 people, President Bill Clinton traveled to Oklahoma. During remarks, he endorsed the idea of a National Weather Center and encouraged Congress to support funding for it.

Planners broke ground at the Norman location in November 2002, and construction officially began in August 2003. By late summer 2006, staff had moved into the facility, and by October 2006, the weather center had opened.

When it finally opened in 2006, NWC became the first permanent home in decades for OU's School of Meteorology. Even then, weather professionals realized what value the $67 million construction would bring OU, the state, nation and world of weather professionals.

"The design idea was similar to a teaching hospital, where you have researchers, academics, practitioners – in this case it's those of us who forecast – all in the same building where we can work together and bounce ideas off each other," said Bunting.

Having everyone in such close contact means that forecasters can help researchers narrow their focus and provide feedback on the tools created for data collection and analysis, he said.

"It's really a unique sort of natural laboratory to bring in experts across all fields of meteorology," Bunting said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Peek inside the National Weather Center: Oklahoma's world-renowned hub for weather science