Theme: Information to Improve Community Responses to Urban Atmospheric Hazards, Weather Events, and Climate

Weather has special and significant impacts on people living in large urban areas. Heavy rains can cause severe flooding, snow and freezing rain can disrupt transportation systems, and severe storms with accompanying lightning, hail, and high winds can cause power failures. High winds can slow or stop the progress of automobiles, recreational vehicles, rail cars, transit vehicles, and trucks. The urban zone is especially susceptible to landfalling hurricanes because of the large numbers of people at risk (a large percentage of US urban population lives within 50 miles of the Atlantic or Gulf coasts), the high density of manmade structures, and the increased risk of flooding and contamination of potable water supplies.

In partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate, the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology will conduct a User Forum on Urban Meteorology. The forum’s objectives are to:

• Reduce high impact weather and climate risks and improve the quality of life in urban areas
• Increase understanding and facilitate the transfer of emerging science and technology to meet today’s urban weather and climate challenges
• Improve forecasting in coastal areas and areas with complex terrain
• Set the stage for building user-tailored decision support systems for real-time response to the spectrum of hazardous weather events and atmospheric conditions.

The forum will be held September 21-23, 2004, at the Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center, Rockville, MD. Participants will include Federal agencies, public and private sector organizations, and a broad representation of users of weather information from urban communities across the Nation. Experts from the many disciplines and fields relevant to urban meteorology research and applications will serve as panelists and workshop co-chairs for the forum. Forum Agenda.

The forum will focus on identifying users’ issues and needs in five priority areas: Severe weather; Homeland security; Air quality; Water quality; and Climate.

• Severe weather in urbanized areas includes major winter storms, hurricanes, flash flooding associated with locally heavy precipitation, regional flooding along waterways, periods of extreme high or low temperature, and tornadoes.
• Homeland security issues relate to the dispersion of hazardous materials by ATD and waterborne transport. Modeling and observational capabilities necessary to support planning for or responding to a deliberate attack with a weapon of mass destruction can also support the urban community in the event of an accidental release of a hazardous material or a natural disaster.
• Air quality is affected by atmospheric pollutants resulting from human activities, including the effects of these pollutants on naturally occurring airborne substances. Urban traffic and the local, fine-scale effects of the constructed environment on air movement can exacerbate the impact of air pollutants on human health.
• Water quality is affected by the role of the atmosphere and precipitation in the Earth’s water cycle. Many airborne pollutants eventually are washed out of the air and may be transported in surface or ground waters. Normal and extreme precipitation events affect the load of contaminants carried into urban water supplies and the load of contaminants carried away from urban communities as storm drainage and sewage.

• Climate issues for urban communities include the effects of natural variations in climate cycles, such as the oceanic oscillations, and of anthropogenic influences on climate. Local and regional variations in seasonal conditions and weather patterns are critical for long-term planning and management of urban systems

The forum will relate these five priority areas to major crosscutting capabilities to support urban meteorology and its key applications. Among these crosscutting capabilities are regional ecosystems planning and management; research and technology tools; integrated observations; weather, ATD, and climate models; education, outreach and training; risk management and risk communication; public health and safety; information dissemination; surface transportation; and business continuity planning. For a more extended discussion of the five focus areas and these cross-cutting capabilities, see the Urban Meteorology Discussion Guide.

The following outcomes are anticipated from the forum’s panels and workshops:

• Participants will identify operational needs and requirements and cross-cutting issues unique to the urban environment
• Participants will identify the research and development needed to address operational shortfalls
  

For further information about the Forum contact:

Forum Logistics
Erin McNamara

Forum Agenda
Margaret McCalla or Tony Ramirez

Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology
8455 Colesville Road
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Tel: 301-427-2002; Fax: 301-427-2007
e-mail: ofcm.mail@noaa.gov

Forum Registration
Diana McQuestion
Tel: Phone: 757-766-5831; Fax: Fax: 757-865-1294
e-mail: mcquestion@stcnet.com