Shareholders
Report 2021
Table of Contents
Greetings from NWS Indianapolis - 2
WRN Ambassadors Make a Difference - 4
NWS Director Retires - 6
CoCoRaHS - 7
What is the Role of a WCM in the NWS? - 8
Climate - 10
The New Normals - 12
Exercises - 13
Changes are Afoot at Crawfordsville -14
Finding Past Events - 17
NWS IND Forecast Training this Past Year - 18
The COOP Program - 20
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Welcome to our second annual National Weather Service
(NWS) Indianapolis (IND) Shareholders Report! As a Federal
Government agency, our mission statement is as follows:
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the
dedicated IND employees never swayed from meeting the
NWS mission for the 39 counties we serve in central
Indiana! This report summarizes some of our 2021 activities,
accomplishments, and weather events.
In 2021, we employed innovative methods within our office
and remotely to ensure no services were left behind for our
customers, partners, and communities. We continued to
reflect as individuals and teammates on how we can provide
the top quality service and awareness that you expect and
need from us to support your personal and professional
weather decisions! Your feedback is vital in this effort.
We reorganized our operations area to facilitate improved
communication and awareness, including a wall of new large
monitors to display weather data, webcams, and other
information, analogous to a local or state Emergency
Operations Center (EOC). We also provided onsite and/or
briefing support for numerous community events, initiated
GREETINGS FROM NWS
INDIANAPOLIS!
Ted Funk - Meteorologist in Charge
P R O V I D E W E A T H E R , W A T E R , A N D
C L I M A T E D A T A , F O R E C A S T S , W A R N I N G S ,
A N D I M P A C T - B A S E D D E C I S I O N S U P P O R T
S E R V I C E S F O R T H E P R O T E C T I O N O F L I F E
A N D P R O P E R T Y A N D E N H A N C E M E N T O F
T H E N A T I O N A L E C O N O M Y .
2
the Indiana Pathfinders program with Indiana Department of
Transportation (INDOT), led or participated in partner
tabletop exercises, and worked with many valued partners
on various initiatives. We are very thankful for our
professional relationships and look forward to more great
interaction and service in 2022 and beyond!
During 2021, we experienced a few staff member changes as
well. First, meteorologist Joe Skowronek retired at the end
of October after 31 years of excellent federal service.
Second, in late 2021, meteorologist Tara Dudzik was
promoted to Lead Forecaster at the NWS Marquette,
Michigan office. Finally, around Thanksgiving we welcomed
Randy Bowers, a meteorologist from the NWS Norman,
Oklahoma office as IND’s new Lead Forecaster. We wish Joe
all the best in retirement, and look forward to exceptional
leadership from Tara and Randy in their new positions!
Finally, in March 2022, we will also welcome three new
meteorologists to the IND weather family!
If you have any feedback, please email us at
[email protected]. Or catch us on the web at
weather.gov/ind,
Facebook at
facebook.com/NWSIndianapolis,
Twitter at
@NWSIndianapolis (#INwx),
and YouTube at
youtube.com/user/NWSIndianapolis.
Lastly, I am grateful to those IND staff members who
contributed to this Shareholders Report, and especially to
meteorologist Kacie Hoover who did a fantastic job
assembling it!
3
WEATHER READY NATION
AMBASSADORS MAKE A
DIFFERENCE
Jason Puma - Lead Meteorologist
Promoting Weather Ready Nation messages and preparedness information to their
organization and community
Engaging with NOAA personnel on potential collaboration opportunities
Sharing their success stories of preparedness and resiliency
Serving as an example by educating employees on workplace preparedness
The National Weather Service has a national program called the Weather Ready Nation
Ambassador initiative. This program is designed to formally recognize National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) partners who are improving the nation’s readiness,
responsiveness, and overall resilience against extreme weather, water, and climate events.
Here at NWS Indianapolis, we have over 200 Weather Ready Nation Ambassadors
participating within the initiative. These Ambassadors range from schools and businesses,
to local government organizations and large corporations across Central Indiana. We
communicate hazardous weather threats with our NWS Ambassadors on a daily basis,
allowing them to prepare their organizations for any potential hazards or threats. NWS
Ambassadors are also encouraged to become a “Force of Nature” by being a leader in their
communities, helping to build a nation that is ready, responsive, and resilient to the impacts
of extreme weather and water events. This can be accomplished by:
Help us build
a Weather
Ready
Nation!
4
Our Weather Ready Nation Ambassadors across Central Indiana continue to prepare and
communicate weather safety information to their organizations and strengthen their
relationship with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis. The recent Midwestern and
Southern tornado events of December 10, 2021 are a prime example of where Weather
Ready Nation Ambassadors can make a difference in assisting the National Weather Service
in protecting lives and property, by sharing preparedness and safety information and being
ready when hazards strike.
We are always looking for new businesses and organizations to join the Weather Ready
Nation Initiative. You can apply to join at:
www.weather.gov/wrn/amb-tou.
5
Max Temperature
Min Temperature
Total Precipitation
94° (Aug 12, 24)
0° (Feb 7)
49.75"
95°
-5°
43.60"
2021 Yearly Average*
A YEAR IN REVIEW AT
INDIANAPOLIS INT'L AIRPORT
*Climate Normal Period 1991-2020
NWS DIRECTOR RETIRES AFTER
LONG CAREER IN FEDERAL SERVICE
Sam Lashley - Warning Coordination Meteorologist
On January 1, 2022, Dr. Louis Uccellini officially retired from federal service after a long and
illustrious career of over 50 years in meteorology, and 43 of those years as a federal public
servant. Dr. Uccellini served as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
Assistant Administrator for Weather Services, and Director of the National Weather Service,
for nearly 9 years. It was under his direction that the NWS adopted the Weather Ready
Nation (WRN) initiative as well the Impact-based Decision Support Services (IDSS) model.
Dr. Uccellini also oversaw the NWS transition to the Collaborative Forecast Process and the
implementation of the National Blend of Models (NBM) that is now used by most NWS
weather forecast offices.
Dr. Uccellini’s primary reason for retiring is to spend more time with his family and to
pursue his interests that he has avoided as a busy public servant. Dr. Uccellini also said a
major factor for retiring now is that “we have accomplished what I hoped we could do,
providing a strategic, budget and governance framework that has supported the continuing
advancements envisioned with the onset of building a Weather Ready Nation.”
Dr. Uccellini will be missed but his tireless efforts and dedication to the agency’s mission
has left the NWS in a great position moving forward. In his absence, Mary C. Erickson will
take on the role as acting director until a permanent replacement is announced. Ms.
Erickson had been serving as the Deputy Director of the National Weather Service.
To read more about Dr. Uccellini’s career and retirement, see
www.noaa.gov/news-
release/louis-w-uccellini-director-of-us-national-weather-service-to-retire.
43 years of
Federal
Public
Service
6
COCORAHS
Andrew White - Meteorologist
2021 was a record year for the Community Collaborative Rain, Snow, and Hail Network
(CoCoRaHS) for the state of Indiana, and we would like to thank all of the observers both
across our forecast area and across the state in helping us reach this point. The month of
July set the record for the most observations for Indiana in the history of the program
which stretches back to 2006. As a state, we averaged 455 daily reports through the year
which was also a record and 41 reports higher than in 2020.
Locally, the NWS Indianapolis office has acted as one of the three state coordinators for the
program and all three coordinators work closely with the Indiana State Climate Office to
put together a monthly newsletter. The Indiana CoCoRaHS team also conducted 4 training
webinars over the course of 2021 focusing on both warm and cold season reporting.
We take pride in quality controlling the data and strive to ensure that all the reports are
accurate to allow for the data to be used across the country for both research and in the
operational setting. Our meteorologists check the data daily with more thorough checks
performed on a weekly basis. We also continue to push for growth in the network both to
increase density in areas already covered and to try to ensure that we have at least one
active observer in each county for our forecast area.
For more information on Indiana CoCoRaHS, visit
cocorahs.org/state.aspx?state=in or
reach out to [email protected]
Because
Every Drop
Counts
7
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A WCM IN
THE NWS?
Sam Lashley - Warning Coordination Meteorologist
Have you ever wondered what exactly the Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM)
does at a National Weather Service office? The answer is simple, the WCM does a lot of
everything, but not without a team of hard working individuals who keep the NWS mission
of the protection of life and property as their motivation.
The NWS defines the WCM position simply as the person who coordinates the warning
function of the Weather Forecast Office (WFO) with the outside world. This would include
heading the Skywarn Program, conducting weather spotter training, and being a voice to
the local media for the office. But the role of the WCM is much more encompassing as this
person is also responsible for planning, coordinating, and carrying out the WFO area-wide
public awareness program designed to educate the public to ensure the mitigation of death,
injury and property damage or loss caused by severe natural hydro-meteorological events.
The WCM also leads and coordinates WFO staff efforts and provides direction, guidance,
instructions, and assistance to the staff in the conduct of weather service operations.
Following severe weather and tornado events, the WCM must coordinate damage surveys
with local Emergency Management officials to determine the cause of damage, and if due to
a tornado, the appropriate Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale rating.
The WCM cannot complete all of the requirements for this position alone. It requires a team
of dedicated individuals from within the office who in addition to their primary roles of
issuing life saving forecasts and warnings, use their precious supplemental shifts during
8
times of quiet weather to lead important office programs that fall under the WCM umbrella
and the NWS mission. These critical programs include Weather Ready Nation Ambassadors,
StormReady, Warning Verification and StormData, Impact-based Decision Support Services,
Core Partner Exercise and engagement opportunities, school talks and outreach requests,
media interviews, and many other activities.
During the pandemic driven year of 2021, the NWS Indianapolis staff did not slow down or
skip a beat, participating in over 400 events in addition to their routine, around the clock,
24/7/365 warning and forecast duties. A sample of activities the NWS Indianapolis staff
worked on this past year included a mix of virtual and in-person meetings, talks, and
outreach with core partners, schools, businesses, and civic organizations; newspaper, radio
and television interviews; tabletop, functional, and full scale exercise planning and
participation with Indiana Department of Homeland Security; Indiana drought monitoring
team participation; weather education talks to the Indiana Department of Education School
Safety Specialists Academy; semi-annual partner workshops with local emergency
management and media; skywarn spotter training; IDSS onsite support for public safety
with the Speedway police department at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; Indiana Silver
Jackets monthly meetings; and many more partnership engagement activities, too
numerous to mention.
The NWS Indianapolis staff and WCM team members remain committed to protecting the
lives and property of the citizens of Indiana. We look forward to even more meetings,
engagement, training and educational opportunities in 2022 and beyond.
9
CLIMATE
Mike Ryan - Lead Meteorologist
National Weather Service Indianapolis continues to be a trailblazer for climate services in
the NWS, leading one of the few statewide teams dedicated to climate services in the
country. The climate team was started in 2012 as a collaboration from all areas of the
weather enterprise that serves the Hoosier state with climate needs. The team consists of
over 30 members from the 6 NWS offices that cover Indiana, the Midwest Regional Climate
Center (MRCC) and the state climatologist located at Purdue University, and other state and
regional officials such as the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, the Indiana
Department of Natural Resources, Agricultural Extension Offices, the Purdue Climate
Change Research Center, and the Environmental Resilience Institute at Indiana University.
The Indiana Climate Services team maintained quarterly conference calls with additional
webinars dedicated to climate service related topics in 2021. Members of our team were
instrumental in contributing to a statewide drought planning and preparedness workshop
in April and a state climate summit focused on agricultural needs in June. Both endeavors
were led by the state climatologist’s office and helped not only to enhance existing
relationships but engage new partners across the state as well. Our team also incorporated
new 30-year normals and analyzed the changes in temperature, precipitation, and snowfall
normals as the period transitioned from 1981-2010 to 1991-2020.
The Drought Mitigation team continued to interact regularly throughout 2021 with drier
than normal conditions impacting parts of the state for much of the year. Calls are led by
the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and conducted monthly, and at times weekly
when needed, to assess evolution of drought conditions and their potential impacts across
the state and to develop specific guidance to share with the National Drought Mitigation
10
Helping
Communities
Prepare for
Weather
Events
Center. NWS Indianapolis is an important part of this team as well, providing specific
information on precipitation trends and forecasts that are incorporated into the drought
guidance developed each week. The partnerships formed on these teams will continue to
grow, enabling them to expand efforts further in 2022 and the years to come.
One big change that occurred in 2021 was the relocation of the MRCC from the University
of Illinois to Purdue University. Our Climate Services team has always enjoyed a close
relationship with the MRCC, but with them now located in West Lafayette, there will be
increased opportunities for collaboration on multiple projects moving forward. In 2022,
ongoing research projects including the development of a statewide Severe Weather
Climatology, and studying extreme precipitation trends across the state will continue. In
addition, a new project will begin focusing on ways to provide decision support for seasonal
and sub-seasonal time periods. These efforts support our goal of longer range decision
support services for local, state, and regional partners in an effort towards creating a
Weather Ready Nation.
2021 TORNADOES
Central Indiana
State of Indiana
4
20
10
25
2021 Yearly Average*
11
*Climate Normal Period 1991-2020
THE NEW NORMALS
Alexander McGinnis - Meteorologist
Often times when describing the forecast or a past or upcoming stretch of weather,
forecasters will compare that to the normal in order to give a reference to what is, well,
normal for the given location and time of year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) is the official
source for Climate Normals across the United States. These temperature and precipitation
values exist for hundreds of first-order airport sites across the country, including seven in
central Indiana: Bloomington, Indianapolis, Indianapolis - Eagle Creek, Lafayette, Muncie,
Shelbyville, and Terre Haute. Following the end of each decade, these daily, monthly,
seasonal, and yearly normals are derived from the preceding 30 years of data. Normals are
created through a several month process of data verification and validation, as well as
official documentation and archival processes, before a final communication plan is
implemented within the NWS. The current normals, which are for the period from 1991 to
2020, were released in May 2021.
Annual normal temperatures across central Indiana mainly rose around 0.5°F, with
significant December-February warming being the main contributor. Indianapolis followed
this pattern, with December exhibiting the greatest monthly increase of +1.7°F. Annual
precipitation changes varied between the central Indiana locales, although the summer
season’s normal precipitation was about the same or wetter for five of the seven first-order
climate sites. Indianapolis’ annual precipitation normal increased the most of any first-
order site by +1.19 inches. As for Indianapolis’ snowfall, downward snow trends in October,
December and February are largely responsible for the yearly normal dropping by 0.4
inches.
12
EXERCISES
Andrew White - Meteorologist
During 2021, the National Weather Service office in Indianapolis worked with the Indiana
Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) and local county emergency managers in 3
exercises. The first exercise of the year gave the NWS and county emergency management
an opportunity to discuss and test technology related to response during and after a
significant severe weather outbreak. We were able to showcase an internal chat software
we have with our emergency management community while learning more about how they
respond to hazards as they arrive.
Another exercise this year was simulating the cascading impacts from a significant solar
storm and resulting long term power outage. The exercise showcased how significant the
planning needs to be for the logistics of power outages and how to best create plans when
coming up with how to respond when we experience these long term outages.
The final exercise of the year was a hands-on drill simulating how to conduct damage
assessment after a tornado impact. It provided a great avenue for the NWS to teach how we
conduct tornado surveys while learning more about how damage assessment works on the
local level. We were able to discuss how we can work together more closely in the future
and how to collaborate on making damage assessment more efficient from the NWS and
local levels.
We greatly value the partnership and collaboration that is built upon during exercises like
these and look forward to where 2022 takes these relationships and the lessons learned.
13
CHANGES ARE AFOOT AT
CRAWFORDSVILLE
Crystal Pettet - Hydrologist
The river gauge at Crawfordsville on Sugar Creek has undergone a recent move. Previously,
the official gauge was located just upstream of the bridge at U.S. 231 and upstream of a low
head dam, on the river bank in front of the old power plant (photo 1). The removal of the low
head dam, which increases public safety and improves the health of the stream, began the
week of September 5th (photos 2 and 3), and resulted in the gauge being unable to obtain
readings. Prompt response by the USGS returned the gauge to service the next week, but
the resultant readings were different than before, including showing negative stage heights.
But how could a river stage be negative? This is because the river stage is not an absolute
measure of the depth of the water in the channel, rather it is a depth with respect to a
historical datum level. This leads to another important term–gauge zero height.
Gauge zero height is the height that is used to indicate a stage of zero on a river gauge.
When the Crawfordsville gauge was first established, the gauge zero height was set at the
top of the low head dam, meaning the stage height would be zero when the water was just
at the top of the dam (figure 1). Removal of the dam meant that readings could now be
negative (figure 2), and the previous rating curve developed by the USGS used to convert
flow to stage/gauge height was no longer valid. With the change in the river itself due to
the dam removal and the need to establish new datum and a new rating cure, the USGS, in
conjunction with local officials, decided to relocate the official Crawfordsville gauge
14
Photo 1: Old
river gauge
location at
Crawfordsville.
The old gauge
house is on the
left, with staff
gauges on the
right.
downstream to the bridge at Lafayette Avenue (photo 4). This new location allows for easier
service to the gauge and it should provide a better representation of flow along Sugar Creek
in the Crawfordsville area.
What are the short term impacts of this move? Soon (date TBD) the public data feed will be
transferred from the old location to the new location, and the equipment at the old location
will be removed. With the new location downstream at a slightly lower elevation and new
datum just below the bottom of the stream bed for a gauge zero height (which allows for
potential future natural stream variability and changes), the previously established flood
stage height will no longer be applicable. An ongoing effort is underway between local
officials, NWS Indianapolis, and the Ohio River Forecast Center (OHRFC) to determine flood
stage for the new location. The impacts one could previously anticipate at a particular
gauge height will be different for the new gauge as well. Because of the changing nature of
the river, there is not an easy conversion from the impacts at the old site to those at the
Photo 2:
Low head
dam
removal
Photo 3:
Dam
removal
almost
completed
15
new site. This means it will take time and some high water events to learn and establish
what impacts occur at what stage height. If you live in the Crawfordsville area near Sugar
Creek, you can help with this process by emailing us at [email protected] with any
flood or high water impacts you observe going forward, and the time and date they occur.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Photo 4: New gauge location on Lafayette Ave bridge
2021 was decidedly above
normal in both temperature
(red) and precipitation
(green); the year finished in
the 90th and 89th
percentiles, respectively.
While not reaching the top
10 for either, this was still a
rare tandem of continually
mild and wet conditions,
with only 5 other years since
1872 also featuring this
overall combination.
16
FINDING PAST EVENTS
Chad Swain - Lead Meteorologist
Locally, NWS Indianapolis archives significant weather events for 5 years. Historic
events are kept indefinitely. This can be found in the “Climate and Past Weather” menu
on our website or in the Site Map at the bottom of the page, under “Climate”. The
address for these events is
www.weather.gov/ind/events
Once on the events page, click on the Thunderstorm/Tornadoes, Flooding, Winter,
Heat/Cold, and Other tabs to see a list of links to various event summaries.
To search for storm reports for any event back to 1950, visit
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/
On that site, you can narrow searches down to county level.
Information on past tornado events for each county in central Indiana and Indiana state
tornado records can be found on the Tornado Climatology page,
www.weather.gov/ind/tornadostats
For general climate statistics on rainfall, temperatures, etc for Indianapolis, visit
www.weather.gov/ind/localcli
For general climate statistics for other locations around central Indiana, visit
www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=ind
If you need to find past severe weather or winter weather events on our website
(
www.weather.gov/ind), here are some tips:
Drone footage of
a July 29, 2021
tornado path
courtesy of
Shelby County
Emergency
Management
17
NWS INDIANAPOLIS FORECAST
TRAINING THIS PAST YEAR
David Beachler - Science and Operations Officer
Each year forecasters reflect on weather events, forecasts, warnings, and explore an in-
depth analysis on what went well and what could be improved upon. This is not uncommon,
as it is within the mission of the National Weather Service to continue to refine and improve
our services to the communities we serve and partners that rely upon the NWS.
As the Science and Operations Officer (SOO), it is imperative that I be flexible with each
staff member and recognize that a one size fits all approach isn’t always the best when it
comes to training. This is where hosting office hours for forecasters and discussing past
events, training, new tools, and professional development or leadership can pay dividends
for each employee. While challenges this past year continued, there was opportunity to
think broadly on how training and improvement could occur.
This past year, forecasters and other SOO's from the NWS that serve the Ohio Valley came
together virtually to conduct joint forecast office training sessions. The goal of this training
was to train forecasters about several new ensemble tools we can use to help us diagnose
the potential for unusual or extreme events among the ever increasing amount of model
data we have to look at. Explanations were given for each tool, and applied to a recent
extreme winter event from early in 2021.
Another initiative the NWS is working to improve upon is how we message weather events
NWS workstation
used during both
training
operations and
active hazardous
weather
18
to the general public and partners. Weather language can be rather difficult to explain,
especially when it comes to probabilities and/or confidence. During this training session
forecasters were presented with a scenario and given examples of how to apply the use of
new tools and conveying confidence graphically and through text.
The example below represents what we could send out in our area forecast discussions as
well as on our social media channels.
In the winter months, when a winter weather event is about to impact or produce
hazardous weather conditions, forecasters utilize many playbooks to determine how best to
message those hazards to the partners and public. At the conclusion of this training session,
forecasters were presented with different scenarios and asked what is the most appropriate
headline to utilize. The emphasis in every case is upon communication internally with
forecasters at the local office and those in neighboring forecast offices, but also externally
with our weather and emergency management partners.
19
THE COOP PROGRAM
Earl Breon - Observations Program Leader
The National Weather Service maintains a network of volunteer observers that take daily
temperature, precipitation, and evaporation readings. There are several thousand such
observers across the Nation, Puerto Rico, and our Pacific Island protectorates.
These observations play a vital role in many aspects of our daily lives. They are used by
federal agencies to monitor drought, maintain flight safety, help guide flood control
decisions, make agricultural aid decisions, and assess environmental impacts. State, county,
and city governments use the data to plan projects, influence building codes, and make road
maintenance decisions. Energy and Insurance entities use the data to predict rates, monitor
usage, and make payout decisions.
Here in central Indiana we have approximately 70 such observers. Many of these observers
have been taking their readings for a long time. Join me in recognizing these outstanding
Hoosier volunteers for their years of citizen scientist service:
40 Years
Phil Tharp - Farmland
Daniel Bush - Perrysville
30 Years
Richard Abel - Kokomo
Ann Abel - Kokomo
Bill Niehoff - Marshall
Greg Bierly - Terre Haute
Indianapolis International Airport
25 Years
Sam Sievers - Vincennes
Alan Sievers - Vincennes
Roger Bartelett - Oolitic
20 Years
Dale Walker - Brazil
15 Years
Jerry Davis - Muncie
David Kuhn - Morristown
Kenny Mcintosh - Elliston
John Pickering - Lewisville
Frieda Pickering - Lewisville
Ken Killion - Bowling Green
10 Years
Donna Monroe - Seymour Highway Garage
Patrick Whitaker - Frankfort Disposal
20
Shareholders
Report 2021
Contact Us
www.weather.gov/ind
317-856-0664
6900 West Hanna Ave.
Indianapolis, IN
46241
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