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Self-reliance and sustainability in the 21st century.
By Dr. Jamison Ozbun
farm business, Dr. Jamison Ozbun
You can start a productive small farm business rather quickly if you use a business operations approach from the beginning. You may have what it takes if you own some property and are willing to work hard for successful results. Farming is also a practice in which traits like patience and persistence come in handy when everything goes wrong at the same time. These are all parts of the farming business and should be considered valuable lessons learned because they are only attained by experience.
One of the most productive things you can do is seek an education in small farming before starting. Successful businesses are run by CEOs who have the knowledge and experience to back up their decisions. Spend the winters reading literature on the subject and network with local businesses and markets to find out what type of produce and/or livestock they will purchase from you each season. Get to know those people and gain their trust by shaking their hands and having small conversations with them.
Next, design your farm on paper and take notes on everything. Imagine how much time and money you can save by spending the winter at a desk fine-tuning your operation with a pencil and eraser. Winter and early spring are great times to set up the foundation for your operation. You can raise baby livestock, make a compost bin, or start collecting the seeds you will need to plant in the spring. My farm operation is designed around a pond so that it always has water. I spent a warm and rainy winter digging a pond, raising ducklings, collecting cedar posts, and placing a circular fence around the perimeter. This type of hard work will save you time in the summer and will give you a fine sense of accomplishment.
Design and build a defense system for your farm early in the spring. Find out what type of animals are in your area and build a fence to prevent them from entering your precious farm. Coyotes, deer, and rabbits are common, so a four foot wire braided fence will help. Add one strand of solar electric fence on the top of your fence posts to combat against raccoons and opossums. If you plan to have poultry or small animals, you must put them in a protective shelter at night. If you do not put them away at night, skunks and owls will take them out one-by-one. Use small chicken wire to cover any small cracks or holes in your shelter. Staple about 15 inches of chicken wire along the outside edges of your shelter and then burry it deep with rocks on top of them. A couple weasels can kill your entire flock in one night. Snapping turtles hide at the bottom of ponds and can be a threat to your water fowl. Find a way to remove them quickly. These are a few things I have experienced and can really slow down your operation. Take the preventive measures now and save some time.
Your crops will have bugs and worms, so research preventive measures early. I use Mallard ducks to range in my garden and they eat weeds, bugs, and worms. I use Muscovy ducks to eat the mosquitoes and ticks and to fertilize the ground as they walk. Duck tractors are a sure way to get your ducks into the garden while also protecting them from predators. Use one inch rabbit wire on the bottom so they can eat through without predators catching them. Hawks can get them in the day and owls can get them in the night.
Harvesting and selling your first products will be very satisfying because you can see the benefits of your hard work. Continue networking and seeking more opportunities to sell your products. Farmers markets and organic health food stores are great options. You can even sell things worldwide by using the Internet. One important consideration is to stay small in the beginning and do most of the work yourself. You will get a feel for what priorities are most important and time consuming before you commit to hiring employees. My last bit of advice is to take a break if you get discouraged and remember that unexpected things will always happen and these are the experiences that make working in the nature so wonderful.
Photo by Dr. Jamison Ozbun
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**Alexy Janes 19 **
See that gorgeous girl in the picture with me (lex left) that's my beautiful baby girl, my angel, the one who could put a smile on my face anytime, the only person who took a chance on me because she believed in me.
Words can not describe how much i love her. She was a strong girl and no matter what she always had a smile on her face, she would do anything for the people she loved. But on the 23/07/2013 my baby girl committed suicide. We lost something irreplaceable, a girl who could always make you laugh and give you hope. Telling you that you are strong enough to go on... she was my light in the darkness.
So here's to you my angel, im sure you look stunning wearing your wings plus your together with your twin (RIP Alec (background)). I hope you know that my heart will forever be yours lex.
i still cant believe your gone babe and it kills us all to know that we wont see that smile anymore. watch over us baby girl. Rest in peace our beautiful angel </3
I love you so so much baby <33
Forever yours Caitlin <3
Lex you were the most amazing best friend any one could ever ask for, i wont forget all the crazy shit we did and how much you taught me....im going to miss you like crazy..who else am i going to eat cookies and cream ice cream with? I hope you keep on smiling. i love you lexy RIP beautiful girl
I will never forget you, you Lexy babe, are one of the best things that ever happened to me and my shitty life i love you and i really wish you were still here by my side RIP <3
** Alexy Janes wearing her white wings proud **
**13/07/1994 -23/07/2013**
Location:in cookie land fuck yea! xD
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insane_bitch Apr 05, 2015 12:44PM
time sure seems to fly by, but my feelings for you seem to remain the same, unchanged. -CView all conversations
Featured work.
Alexys Letters <3
By insane_bitch
Social data: 456 reads. 12 votes. 7 comments.
Description: Alexys letters to the people she loved....RIP beautiful girl you'll be missed <3 **still putting letters**
Other Works by insane_bitch.
252 18 8
pretty much what the title says.....i'll put lyrics of songs, poems, quotes and just randome shiz that m...

subset: commoncrawl


text: Posted May 26, 2011 ?:confused:?:confused: And btw driving drunk is way way worse than driving 3x speed limit Let me explain, .08 is legally drunk and 45 was the speed limit. So your saying going 135 is worse than driving with a b.a.c. of .024?? There are more deaths on the highways due to speed than to alcohol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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The Winter Olympics have been a celebration of winter sports and a global athletic community since it's creation in 1924. There are sports more popular in some countries than others and it shows; from hockey in Canada to bobsledding in Germany. Here is a brief history of some of the most popular sports in the Winter Olympics, and the countries that celebrate them:READ MORE
Football vs. football, soccer vs. football, football vs. gridiron: However you prefer to say it, the debate between which sport is best or deserves the title of "football" is a topic that is often debated between Americans and, well, the rest of the world. Let's not forget about rugby, a…READ MORE
Today, GoAbroad features an interview with Amy Ruhter McMillan, Assistant Vice President of Marketing of Institute for the International Education of Students (IES Abroad). IES Abroad is one of the oldest, private study abroad organizations in the United States. As a former study abroad advisor, I know IES Abroad has…READ MORE
Ever wondered what study abroad destinations travelers are searching for on GoAbroad? Today we're featuring the top ten most popular study abroad destinations, based on how many users searched for a particular country on GoAbroad.com. Whether you're interested in perfecting your Italian language skills, exploring the Australian Outback or studying ancient…READ MORE
This is the excerpt of your first post template…READ MORE


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We apologise for our first major unscheduled downtime in the last 2 years. We have taken pride in our attempt to provide 24/7 availability, and continue to invest heavily in redundant equipment in order to ensure our customers receive the best possible service.
Naturally we have backup plans in the case of an outage such as this. In this instance we have to hold our hands up and apologise for a delay on our part. Our two phase disaster recovery plan places initial emphasis on recovering the API at enterprise.majesticseo.com, used by platinum account holders and resellers, before moving onto facilitating access to the website for wider use. Basing our decisions on initial estimates of time to service resumption, we delayed in starting the full recovery procedure. This was an error on our part which will not be repeated. Service was restored whilst our engineers worked on the disaster recovery systems.
Majestic SEO remains proud of the quality of its service offering. Despite this outage, we believe our uptime is one of the best in the backlinks provision industry. Rest assured, this experience will be investigated, and steps will be taken to ensure we are better able to respond more quickly should this happen in future.
*We will update this post when we have a full report on the outage.*


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JUL 04, 2014 - Forbes
A Must Read - Share
Could someone please tell me how an Alaska Airlines flight between Salt Lake City and San Jose, Ca. is going to make money? Because I can't see it. In fact, if you believe in that flight, don't read this column, where the assumption is that the flight is ridiculous. In June, [...]
Editor's Picks
Hey you have no friends!!! Get to work and start inviting friends to help build your Comunitee. Click Here to invite friends.
© 2011 Comunitee, Inc.


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HONG KONG/SINGAPORE: The yuan's climb to a one-year high against the euro will erode China's competitiveness in its largest export market and delay an end to its currency's peg against the dollar, said UniCredit and Societe Generale.
Forward contracts on the currency fell after debt-rating downgrades of Greece and Portugal on Tuesday deepened concern that a sovereigncredit crisis will hamper a global economic recovery. The European turmoil may buttress Premier Wen Jiabao's reticence to abandon the yuan's peg to the dollar, adopted in July 2008 to shield exporters from the world recession.


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Friday, January 11th, 2013 11:42 am
Chari and Co. Daypack.
Posted by: kris
Small backpacks are always a staple on the streets. I've got a couple bags similar to this because they're super convenient for being out and about on the bike, board or on foot. Dig the digital camo too…stuffs pretty popular right now. Chari and Co always with the cool stuff…swoop 'em here.


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Product Description
As Grade Two monastery initiates in Karesansui – the cutthroat game of Zen gardening – it will be your great honor to tend the Masters' rock gardens. Each morning the Grade Ones arrive with rocks they've gathered, then haul away the rocks that you don't need anymore – but there aren't enough Grade One initiates to go around, so there will be competition for the best selection of rocks. The Grade Ones will give their new rocks to whoever gives them the fewest old rocks to haul away.
Keep in mind while creating your garden, however, that certain combinations of rocks must be avoided! Every afternoon, the Feng Shui Masters come by to check your work. You'll receive demerits for any forbidden combinations – but you'll also receive demerits for your laziness if you don't add new stones each day, so you must find a balance.
The Masters' final evaluation will come with no advance warning. The Initiate who has the fewest demerits will advance to Grade Three, while the one with the most demerits will be kicked down to Grade One, joining the others in the daily search for new rocks...
Product Information
Gryphon Games, Eagle Games
Year: 2013
Players: 3 - 6
Time: 50 or more minutes
Ages: 10 and up
Weight: 1,429 grams
Language Requirements: Game components are printed in English. Manufacturer's rules are printed in multiple languages (including English). This is an international edition or domestic edition of an imported item.
- 76 Wooden Rocks
- 40 Demerit Cards
- 6 Rock Garden Boards
- 6 Rakes
- 1 Bidding Board
- 1 Cloth Bag
- 1 Rulebook


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Recent Event Highlights: Beechcraft Super King Air 380 - VERY SHORT TAKE OFF! AWESOME!, Beech Super King Air 350 F-GNOE, simulating a take off procedure at CDG in beechcraft B200 Super king air. Mcc, King air 200 departing Plymouth, Beechcraft Super King Air 350 landing, Beech Super King Air 350 YR-CAA on short final at Baneasa after a calibration flight, and 42 more...
Created by dipity on Apr 14, 2009
Last updated: 05/22/09 at 09:08 PM
King Air taking off at Ranger Creek. Very skilled pilot! Pilot used full flaps and kept control column back to pitch nose up as fast as possible.
...was a show that the audience couldn't get more of and never wanted to end, as screams of "We Love You Shahrukh" ranted the air and the Super Star walked down the ramp several times to please his delighted cheering fans. Shahrukh Khan at the Manish Malhotra...
Source Info
Beech Super King Air 350 taking off from Gstaad - Saanen
...of his soldiers helps him out with that, sending a few thousand-volts through the Wakandan king, then giving his ridged-chin some air. Jason Knize is eager to see some of the "rejected" Super-Skrulls. Leech/Doop/Squirrel Girl, anyone? Click here for more...
Source Info
Wizard Universe
take off procedure al CDG in beechcraft B200 Super king air. Curso mcc aeromadrid. promocion 53. Abraham as a PIC
King air 200 reg G-CLOW departing Plymouth
Beechcraft Super King Air 350 landing at Pisa International Airport (LIRP)
Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority's Beech Super King Air 350 "YR-CAA" on short final at Baneasa after a calibration flight
My king air 300 is making an emergency landing at EDDM. The left gear isn't down! Watch how it is abble to get this king air down! Hope you enjoy the landing ;)
Beech Super King Air 200 G-TAGH
Beech Super King Air 200 G-JASS
...I display to get my hands on the real Coke taste of Coke Zero." Following its Super Bowl debut, "Mean Troy" will also air as a 60-second cinema commercial. Crispin is the Miami-based shop that engineered controversial and buzz-building promos for Burger King...
Source Info
My "new "King Air. Now i have the TSS engine soundpack. This is awesome, everybody have to have this. You can put the sound in every turboprop plane you want. Hope you enjoy the sound ;)
...it believes to be the shortest-ever Super Bowl commercial — half a second long. The commercial will appear regionally on KING-TV, the local NBC affiliate airing Sunday's game. Ivar's advertising agency, Heckler Associates, won't say exactly when the spot will...
Source Info
The Seattle Times
...I display to get my hands on the real Coke taste of Coke Zero." Following its Super Bowl debut, "Mean Troy" will also air as a 60-second cinema commercial. Crispin is the Miami-based shop that engineered controversial and buzz-building promos for Burger King...
Source Info
Video of transitions of flight in a Beechcraft King Air 200 on a trip from Sulphur Springs, Texas to San Antonio, Texas.
Flight to Berlin Tempelhof (EDDI) with a Beech 200 Super King Air with approach and landing on runway 09R
Sean Tillery and Friends
EC-IBK (cn FL-328)
Flying the 350 from KMKC to KTKI
OY-MEN (cn FL-229) Parked at Cascais
Taking off from Faro Airport. Video by Fernando Sousa
Super King Air 200 [Aeroworx] flying a smal Tour over Klangenfurt [LOWK by gianni] More Videos of the EuropeSky virtual Airline [www.europesky-va.de] will come soon !!
Beech Super King Air 200 departs Cape May Airport (KWWD) NJ Sept. 3, 2007
Flight Calibration Services is landing on RWY27R in Hannover.
RAF Beech Super King Air B200 Display - Kemble 2008
G-FPLA (cn BB-944)
Beech King Air 350 from ADAC Ambulance taxies and takes offs on a very windy day in Augsburg.
G-CEGP (cn BB-726)
Super King Air 350 pousando na 12 em SNGX
D-IAJK (cn BB-1565)
G-OCEG (cn BB-588)
Super King Air 200. Just love the symphony produced from these engines.
Descending through the cloudlayer in a Beechcraft Super King Air 200 doing about 230 knots (430 km/h). Captured with a Nokia 6120.
A view of Beechcraft Super king Air 350 bimotor, once of the best in its rate. The King Air 350 is a "load and go" aircraft. Fill all eight seats in the luxurious double-club cabin. Fill the class leading heated, pressurized, and in-flight-accessible baggage area -- the largest in its class. Then, fill the tanks with fuel (enough to fly nearly 1500-statue miles) and you are ready to take on anything, for business or pleasure. Plus, the King Air 350 can operate on runways as short as 3300 ...
EC-GBB (cn BB-182)
N100LA (cn BB-1200)
EC-IBK (cn FL-328)
Air Ambulance landing in Aruba at night. Its a B200 Super King Air.
Air Ambulance landing in SXM to pick up a patient at night. Its a B200 Super King Air.
POha ta ae o vidio
...to Hawker Beechcraft, following enthusiastic reception for the company's smaller C90GT offering. The upgraded Beechcraft King Air B200GT features a 305-knot max cruise speed, a nearly 20-knot increase and climbs faster to its intended cruising altitudes than...
Source Info
Related Topics
Atterrissage à Ajaccio à bord d'un Beechcraft Supze King Air B200 en soirée (flight simulator 2004) NB : I don't pretend to show what is a good landing at all (most of my landings on Youtube are bad anyway). It's just to show the graphics and technics capacities of FS. So be indulgent and don't insult me as if you were the passengers ;)


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Nurses are vital in giving vulnerable people a voice. The reforms threaten their role
When the Government launched the Health and Social Care Bill, which has its second reading today, it pledged to put patients at the heart of the NHS. Few of us would argue with that. However, the devil is to be found in the detail of the largest NHS reorganisation in the past 60 years.
Medical science has moved on incredibly quickly over recent decades. In the coming years, scientific cures will not be enough. People will live longer with long-term conditions, and the next great leap forward has to be in how we deliver care.
Think about a patient with


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Seascape Ceramic Bowl
# 27502
Product Description
Inspired by the plants and shells of the ocean, our Seascape Ceramic Bowl has an intriguingly irregular scalloped design. The surface is smooth yet shallowly pitted, while the sides of the bowl undulate in ridges like a clam's shell. This ceramic bowl is rendered in elegant glossy white, balancing the asymmetrical effect.
Product Details


text: Wow! StrangeDivine, you ROCK!Eww! EJSunday, you KIDDIN'? It's an amazing song. I can't believe he didn't include it in the album. I would have rather seen a less inspired song, like Rebel, Rebel, lay in the vaults all those years until Ryko finally released it.Candidate (Demo) is hauntingly beautiful, and thanks for the additional interpretation and imagery, StrangeDivine. I also think the sexual metaphors in the song give it another dimension, though. In addition to the 1984 references, it seems it can almost stand alone as a commentary on repressive politcal and societal regimes. In 1984, too, much of what was repressed involved love and sex. If you stifle political--or sexual--expression, you create a number of perhaps unintended side effects, such as revolutionary thinking to overthrow the very repressors, and a focus on the "negative" aspects of sexuality (prostitution, sexual violence, abuse, etc.). What a lovely song. EJSunday, go listen to it again.Last, I should have put this thread in Interpretation, so others can more easily find your analysis StrangeDivine. Zigbot


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'Hey,it's that guy!' See the many roles of SMU alum Stephen Tobolowsky
Photo: SARA KRULWICH/NYT
Stephen Tobolowsky in 'Morning's at Seven,'' at the Lyceum Theater in New York. The show opened late in the season to good notices.
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Northeast Modern Language Association 46th Annual Convention in Toronto, Ontario
April 30-May 3, 2015
Crossing Borders: Delineations of Space in Medieval and Early Modern Literature
This panel seeks to explore the significance of geographical boundaries, cartographical nuances in texts, literary and historical representations of 'setting,' the compartmentalization of otherness, and the use of space to shape individual or collective ritual behavior. Additionally, consider the juxtaposition of the urban and rural, representations of conflict in 'close quarters' or public venues, the martyring of saints, the farcical humiliation of foolish husbands, food riots, public dancing or processions.
Chair: David Pecan, SUNY Nassau
Abstract Deadline: September 30, 2014


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Check out part 3 of Ace Hood's video blog series for "Blood, Sweat and Tears".
New Album "BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS" Coming Soon!
Click here to download "Hustle Hard" on iTunes
Click here to download "Hustle Hard" on Amazon
Ace Hood "Hustle Hard" Available on
iTunes Now!
ACEHOOD to 66937 for a free Ace Hood ringtone and


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Some cluby reggaeton type beats I thought I'd share.
These are some of my firsts attempts at making this type of music so they might be a little rough. Haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet.
Por La Noche by Bonafide Jones
Todas las cosas by Bonafide Jones
No Bailas by Bonafide Jones
My friend has recently started promoting a reggaeton dance night for a club here in town so we might throw a few tracks together and play them if we can come up with something good. Shit would be cash to see people dancing to our stuff.


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Higher Mortgage Caps — Back from the Dead?
By Alan Zibel and Nick Timiraos
A push by the real estate industry to restore higher limits on the size of government-backed loans is starting to have some results. But the outcome is far from certain.
Around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday night, the Senate voted 60-38 to approve an amendment to a federal spending bill that would raise the maximum size of loans that can be guaranteed by government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have called for getting rid of Fannie and Freddie, the two mortgage firms whose federal rescue three years ago has cost taxpayers $141 billion to date.
The move by Senate lawmakers illustrates just how hard it will be to do that — as long as the housing market limps along. If Congress raises the limits back to their former levels, it's another indication of how Fannie and Freddie aren't going anywhere soon.
Those limits dropped to $625,500 on Oct. 1 in expensive markets such as New York and San Francisco, down from $729,750. In other parts of the U.S, limits vary by location.
Lobbyists for real estate agents and home builders have been pressing Capitol Hill to restore the former caps, arguing that lower limits will prevent many home purchases from happening.
Under the amendment by Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), the loan limits would be restored to $729,750 through December 2013.
The fate is uncertain,, however, in the Republican-controlled House. Many GOP lawmakers oppose doing so, arguing that reducing loan limits represents is a significant– but small — step toward dialing back government support of the U.S. mortgage market.
In a note to clients Friday, FBR Capital Markets analyst Edward Mills said there are strong odds of the change happening.
"The House will protest, but given the strong bipartisan support in the Senate, the chances of the re-raise are well above 50%," he wrote.


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If Louisville had mountains, I always say, we'd still be there.
My wife, Katie, and I left family and a good life in Kentucky a couple of years ago for the elusive draw of the American West. It's more than just mountains, of course, but that's the easiest way to summarize it. However, we wanted more out of life than just the two of us exploring wild places, and we welcomed our little daughter, Cora, last summer.
Cora has done what children do: She changed our lives and changed us as people. She's also slowed us down when it comes to exploring the mountains.
But as we celebrated her birthday this summer without her extended family, we realized that if we give up wild places in the name of parenting, we've let go of the primary thing that separated us from family in the first place. I know of no better way to enjoy the wilderness than to walk into it and stay for a bit, so we decided to try backpacking with our 14-month-old.
We scoured our hiking books and quizzed our friends to find a place that was wild enough to satisfy us but approachable enough to let us return intact. The State of Jefferson is reasonably hospitable in this respect.
Friends and guidebooks concurred on Deadfall Lakes in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest as a perfect spot to try being a family not just near the mountains, but in them. We decided to give ourselves the best chance of success by keeping the trip short in distance and duration, so we planned to hike in and spend two nights at one campsite with a day hike in between.
The hike to Middle Deadfall Lake is mercifully short, with less than two miles of moderate climbing. There's a slightly longer option along the Pacific Crest Trail with even less climbing, but the difficulty of this short hike was in the ratio: A normal backpacking trip has a 1-to-1 ratio of packs to backs. Our daughter does have a back, of course, but it's not the sort to shoulder a load. Also, she takes a lot of stuff with her wherever she goes. So with one adult back dedicated to carrying our daughter and her gear, we were left with what amounted to a 2-to-1 pack-to-back ratio.
I didn't weigh my pack, but by the time we were done cramming it full and strapping things on the outside, I felt as if I'd shouldered the kitchen table with four chairs lashed to it. We didn't look like we'd stepped out of an REI catalog, but when we arrived Friday evening at the lake, with the last rays of sun on Mount Eddy above us, we felt like we'd wandered into a catalog ourselves.
We were happy to leave our load in one place Saturday for a light trip up Mount Eddy, the highest point west of Interstate 5. The summit offers a grand panorama and probably has the best view of Mount Shasta outside of a helicopter.
That night, we built a campfire by the lake after putting our daughter to bed. When she woke again after an hour, we brought her out to sit by the fire with us. It was her first campfire, and she was completely mesmerized by the flames. She fell asleep again in my lap as moonlight crept down the ridge above us.
We returned home Sunday feeling triumphant. The trip, which we'd doubted many times, was an unqualified success. It seems the mountains didn't entirely leave our world when our daughter came into it.
Location, ST | website.com


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There is a famous statue of Rocky Balboa, his gloved hands raised in weary triumph, near the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Giants can walk over and visit it today, if they like.
But they cannot hold the pose. Not yet, anyway.
The Philadelphia Phillies didn't become the two-time defending NL champions without stubborn pieces of iron in their lineup and rotation, and they seized on a series of Giants mistakes while taking a 4-2 survival victory Thursday night at AT&T Park.
The Giants still hold a three-to-two edge in this best-of-seven National League championship series, but now they must win on the road. They can clinch a trip to the World Series on Saturday behind Jonathan Sanchez at Citizens Bank Park, with Matt Cain ready for a potential Game 7 on Sunday.
Tim Lincecum said he plans to be available in the bullpen, too.
"We see ourselves more in the driver's seat than them, a little more in control," said Lincecum, who might have thrown a shutout if not for mistakes made behind him. "So it's up to us. You wanted to shut it down in front of the home crowd. But things happened that shouldn't, and we're going back to Philly."
The Phillies survived by beating Lincecum, although that was a matter of semantics. Playing under an intermittent drizzle, the Giants beat themselves in a sloppy, three-run third inning that included an error by first baseman Aubrey Huff that allowed two runs to score. It was preceded by an odd sacrifice bunt that would have resulted in a double play if third baseman Pablo Sandoval had been able to find the bag.
The Giants did not roll over against Roy Halladay either. They pushed, prodded and, in Pat Burrell's case, even screamed obscenities at the presumed Cy Young Award winner.
But they couldn't get the two-out hit they needed to push ahead, Jayson Werth added a solo shot in the ninth off Ramon Ramirez to pad the lead, and the Phillies' top relievers held firm.
After the game, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel revealed that Halladay strained his right groin while trying to put some extra mustard on a fastball to Cody Ross in the second inning.
"He was determined to stay in there," Manuel said of Halladay, who lasted six innings. "I don't know if you noticed the velocity on his fastball fell off, and he was having a hard time pushing off the mound, and he used a lot of cutters and changeups."
He also gave the Giants plenty of hittable pitches. But despite plenty of feisty at-bats that ran up Halladay's pitch count, they couldn't get the hits they needed with runners on base.
Their worst bit of bad luck came in the first inning, after Andres Torres worked a leadoff walk and went to third on Freddy Sanchez's hit-and-run single. Huff scorched a line drive right to first baseman Ryan Howard, who made a diving play.
The Giants pushed across one run in the inning, but they nearly landed an uppercut.
"Turning point in the game," Huff said. "We could've cashed in for a big inning. That one hurt, but the error hurt even more."
Huff's error was the most damaging play in an inning the Giants would like to zap from their memories. Raul Ibañez led off the third inning with a single, and Carlos Ruiz stood as still as a statue as he let Lincecum's 0-2 pitch hit his arm.
Then came one of the strangest sacrifice plays you will ever see. Halladay's bunt bounced off the plate and appeared to spin foul, but catcher Buster Posey alertly pounced on it and immediately threw to third base as Halladay stood in the box.
Sandoval took the throw as he retreated to third base, but he couldn't find the bag. Implored by a shouting home dugout, Sandoval threw to first base to retire Halladay.
"We're inches away from getting a double play," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "So that's a missed opportunity -- and it came back to haunt us."
Shane Victorino followed with a ground ball, and Huff conceded he rushed the play as he looked to throw home and keep Ibañez from scoring the tying run. The ball deflected off Huff's glove and ricocheted into shallow center field as two runs scored.
The Phillies added a run when Placido Polanco singled, and Lincecum blamed himself for not shutting down the rally.
"Aww, man," Huff said. "He's standing up for his first baseman. He's a great pitcher, a great kid. No, this one's on me. Obviously, I made the big one.
"It's all on me tonight."
Lincecum retired the next nine hitters, and the Giants kept threatening Halladay, but they managed only one more hit with runners on base.
Halladay's new nemesis and an old one combined to halve the Phillies' lead in the fourth. Burrell, who exchanged words with the pitcher after a strikeout in the first inning, yanked a double down the left-field line. Cody Ross, who hit two homers off Halladay in Game 1, doubled him in.
But Ross was thrown out trying to tag up on a fly ball to right fielder Werth.
"It was a split-second decision," Ross said. "It was the wrong decision. It kind of took the momentum out from under us."
And a home crowd waited to celebrate.
For more on the Giants, see Andrew Baggarly's Extra Baggs blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs.


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Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad said the officer involved in this week's shooting of an unarmed man might have been intoxicated at the time.
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The Season When The Sun Shines Most, A Haiku
Posted by Jennifer on June 28, 2010 – 2:10 pm
To Do List:
blow bubbles
eat lunch
enjoy the sunshine
have fun
Mission. Accomplished!
{Yes, we shared a plate for lunch…summer = simplicity = less dishes for momma!}
- This post is for The Season When The Sun Shines Most, A Haiku.


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SIKESTON -- Johnnie L. Mills, 88, died Nov. 13, 2012, at Miner Nursing Center.
Born July 27, 1924 in Union Hills, Ark., to the late Samuel Lawrence and Gertie May Postlwaite Mills, he worked for McDonnell-Douglass in Long Beach, Calif., before moving to Sikeston.
He is survived by one son and daughter-in-law, Donald and JoAnn Mills of Sikeston; one brother, Ivy Mills of St. Louis; one sister, Louise Gibson of Sikeston; three grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by one son, Jack Thomas Mills.
Visitation is from noon until time of services at 2 p.m. Saturday at Ponder Funeral Home. The Rev. Elijah Allen, chaplain for Preferred Hospice, will officiate.
Online condolences may be sent at ponderfuneralhome.com.


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SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft yesterday said it is scrambling Outlook email messages in transit to thwart spying by governments or others.
Toughened encryption at Outlook and Microsoft OneDrive online "cloud" data storage service came less than a month after the technology titan got low marks in a Google ranking of such defences against online snooping.
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US Internet firms are eager to fend off privacy concerns provoked by US online spying tactics exposed by former intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden, who has taken refuge in Russia. AFP


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|<< Return


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Fort Worth, Texas
December 2000
On behalf of all of us here in Southern Region Headquarters, I want to wish all of our fellow National Weather Service employees, their families, and friends a heartfelt Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Your dedicated efforts over the past year have not only provided outstanding services but also continue to proudly set the standard for service to the nation.
Bill Proenza
AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY HONORS. We are pleased to announce that several Southern Region employees will be recognized next month at the AMS 81st Annual Meeting in Albuquerque. Congratulations to all of the following award recipients.
Todd Lericos at WFO Tallahassee will accept the Father James B. Macelwane Award in Meteorology for the Outstanding Undergraduate Paper of the Year. Todd is a SCEP employee and attends Florida State University.
The WFO Norman staff will share in an AMS Special Award which recognizes the exceptional public service they provided during the devastating tornadoes of May 3, 1999. Other groups sharing in the award are the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety; Oklahoma City television stations KFOR, KOCO and KWTV; the Southwest Independent Repeater Association; and the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. Together, their work resulted in a truly outstanding example of a successful, fully integrated, and effectively partnered severe weather decision making and dissemination system.
I am also pleased to have been awarded the AMS Francis W. Reichelderfer Award. This is indeed an honor, but in a real sense it recognizes the accomplishments of all of us in providing the best possible weather services to the American public.
CORPORATE IMAGE WEB TEAM. A team has been assembled with representatives from the regions and NWS Headquarters to develop a concept for a "corporate image" Web page design. The intent is to provide for as much flexibility as possible in the development of NWS Web pages among the various offices and elements of our organization, but at the same time incorporate a standardized "look" to the home pages which will serve to establish a clear and widespread recognition of the National Weather Service. Matt Strahan from CWWD's newly formed Dissemination Enhancement Team represents Southern Region on the team. The team's first meeting was December 4-7 at NWSH and we will keep all offices informed of developments.
BUILDING LEADERS FOR A SOLID TOMORROW. That phrase defines the term BLAST, which is a new Southern Region program being designed to accomplish just what the phase says. It is a region-wide effort which will provide the structure and assistance necessary to allow all interested employees to acquire leadership skills for their own development, and help ensure that tomorrow's leaders are ready to step up when the time comes. In mid-November MICs from five Southern Region WFOs came to SRH to work on the general aspects of BLAST. Jose Garcia (Amarillo), Steve Rinard (Lake Charles), Bill Read (Houston), Ray Fagen (Midland), and Steve Letro (Jacksonville) met with Camille Dyer (ADMIN) and Steven Cooper (CWWD), as well as Crystal Williams from International Training Associates. Melinda Bailey (new to CWWD from WFO Melbourne) also participated in the sessions to provide a field view of the process. The meeting produced a number of ideas to refine the program further from what was presented to the MICs and HICs at their meeting in Fort Week in early November.
BLAST is directed at improving leadership capabilities at all levels of the organization. As part of BLAST, every Southern Region office, including SRH, will have a local leadership program. A few individuals will be competitively selected to participate in a regional development program involving seminars and other training. Full details of BLAST will be presented to all employees within the next few weeks, and a call for applications for the development program will go out in early January.
SMG SUPPORTS FIFTH ANNUAL NASA/JSC "INSPECTION DAYS" EVENT. The Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) participated in the fifth annual Inspection event hosted by NASA's Johnson Space Center. Inspection 2000 was an opportunity for professionals from industry, business, community, and academia to take a close-up look at NASA-developed technologies, processes, and facilities. During the three day event, which began November first, specialized tours were provided for Mission Control's secured areas, such as SMG. Over one hundred and twenty people visited SMG's operational area. They received a briefing on SMG's role in space flight weather forecasting and a demonstration of SMG's technologies and capabilities.
DISCOVERY SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES 100TH SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHT. After a number of technical delays, the Shuttle Discovery lifted off on October 11 and docked with the International Space Station on October 13. The SMG lead forecaster for STS-92 was Rich Lafosse. Assistant lead/TAL site forecaster was Tim Garner. The lead Techniques Development Unit meteorologist was Mark Keehn. For a complete technical summary of the STS-92 mission visit the STS-92 Post-Mission Summary Web page at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-92/index.html.
For the late afternoon launch of STS-92, ceilings below 5000 ft and light rain showers within twenty miles of the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) were the two Return To Launch Site (RTLS) weather flight rules evaluated for possible violation. Showers moved across the launch pad during the early afternoon but dissipated inland prior to launch. This left ceilings as the primary weather violation threat. GOES 8 imagery was used to monitor the low clouds over the Atlantic and track a large patch of widely scattered clouds moving toward the KSC launch site. The location of this relatively cloud free area and its movement allowed the forecaster to remove the ceiling violation from the RTLS forecast about one hour prior to launch. Weather was marginal at all three Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) sites prior to launch but Meteosat imagery helped the SMG forecaster decide to remove the chance of low ceilings from the forecast for Ben Guerrir, Morocco a few hours prior to launch.
At KSC strong northeasterly surface winds during the afternoon landing opportunities precluded Discovery from returning to Florida so after two weather wave-off days, Discovery landed at Edwards AFB for the first time since March 1996, ending a record string of 23 straight landings at KSC. GOES 10 imagery indicated clear weather over southern California at landing time.
WFO CORPUS CHRISTI FAM FLOAT. On October 16, Brian LaMarre, senior forecaster, Mark Lenz, journeyman forecaster, and Steve Smart, HMT participated in a familiarization float aboard the new casino ship Texas Treasure. The vessel's home port is at Port Aransas, Texas. Capt. David Ruiz, chief officer hosted the meteorologists during their visit. The Texas Treasure makes two runs per day, going out to 20nm southeast of Port Aransas. As part of a coordinated effort, once the ship reaches 9.2nm, wind direction and speed, wave height and period data are assessed and called in to WFO Corpus Christi via cell phone. This information is utilized to enhance and verify existing meteorological data used in routine and special marine products. During their visit, the NWS staff members demonstrated use of the Palm VIIx. This is a hand-held, wireless Internet device which can receive marine and other weather information directly from the WFO. They also conducted a test of the marine-to-land VHF radio signal. Also, while underway the meteorologists practiced the art of determining wind speed and direction using the Beaufort scale.
TEXAS GULF COAST EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE. Ken Graham, WFO Corpus Christi MIC, and Terry Huber, WCM, attended the annual meeting of the Texas Gulf Coast Emergency Management Association in Corpus Christi on October 16-17. During this two-day event, emergency managers from across the Texas Gulf Coast gathered to discuss various topics relating to emergency management. In addition, Terry represented the NWS by presenting an hour-long overview of the SKYWARN program.
NOAA WEATHER RADIO NEWS. The Georgia NWR expansion is nearing completion300 watt LaGrange, Georgia NWR site was accepted as a fully operating NWR site on November 16. The 300 watt NWR site at Blue Ridge, Georgia is undergoing a 30 day test period; acceptance was slated for December 1.
On November 14, Tim Troutman (CWWD), T.L. Farrow (SOD), and Florida WCMs Bob Goree, Dennis Decker, and Walt Zaleski attended a FWIN NOAA Weather Radio improvement project meeting at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee. The purpose of the meeting was to determine the final portion of the FWIN NWR improvement project and to schedule project implementation with the $630,000 available funding. The recommendations from the meeting were to install new 1000 watt NWR transmitters at Highlands County (Sebring-Lake Placid area), Taylor County (Cedar Key-Fowler Bluff area), and Citrus County (Lecanto-Homasasso Springs area). Further recommendations were to install new 300 watt NWR transmitters at Liberty-Calhoun County (Blountstown-Bristol area) and in Putnam County (Palatka area).
Other recommendations were to improve some existing NWR transmitters by upgrading towers, transmitters, antennas, stand-by electrical generators and, if necessary, relocating the existing sites at: Tallahassee, Holmes County, Brevard County, Eastpoint, Osceola County and Okeefenokee Swamp area to improve NWR coverage. The FWIN NWR expansion effort in Florida is tentatively expected to be completed by 2002.
The state of Tennessee has completed an NWR initiative to place NWRs in all public schools. Around 1400 NWRs were distributed to all Tennessee public schools as part of this project, which was funded by a combination of Project Impact and state money.
New Orleans Area MIC Paul Trotter received this e-mail recently from a satisfied NWR customer in Erwinville, Louisiana.
Thanks very much for the speedy work as well as the reply. I didn't really expect NOAA to take my e-mail as seriously as you did. I was the former assistant engineer of WYNK as well as an announcer of 19 years in the Baton Rouge area. I know I hated spending a cold, wet weekend at a transmitter site. THANK YOU, there's nothing like hearing your tax dollars at work!
This is an excellent example of prompt customer service, which is greatly appreciated.
CRS NEWS. The first regional CRS conference call was held on November 15. A regional CRS team has been established to determine requirements to improve the current CRS CAFÉ formatter and the final AWIPS formatter. WFO representatives on the region's CRS formatter improvements team include Mike Coyne, Corpus Christi; Kevin Brown, Norman; Chris Liscinski, Birmingham; and Mark Rose, Nashville.
The CRS Voice Improvement team (VIP), held a conference call on November 28 to continue discussions regarding beta testing the potential future NWR voice. It was announced the test sites in the Southern Region will likely be WFOs Atlanta and Lake Charles. The voice beta testing should begin by early 2001.
VERIFICATION NEWS. In response to questions from the MIC/HIC meeting in October, here is an update on a variety of issues related to verification.
TORNADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT. Representatives from SRH, WFOs, Pleasant Hill, Missouri; Norman and Tulsa, Oklahoma; NSSL and the Warning Decision Training Branch met recently in Norman to examine the tornado warning false alarm rate problem. While most performance measures used to gauge forecaster performance have steadily improved over recent years, tornado warning FAR continues to be a problem, with over 70% of all tornado warnings classified as false alarms.
The early November meeting focused on a discussion of the scope of the problem and things which might be done to improve warnings. Many factors contribute to the decision to issue a tornado warning, and even more factors can complicate the verification process. Aside from scientific limitations that prevent a warning forecaster from definitively saying that one storm will produce a tornado while another will not, numerous non-meteorological factors affect warning verification. The team agreed to examine ways to incorporate some of these factors into the verification system to present a more realistic and accurate picture of forecaster skill.
Discussions and coordination will continue among all the participants as Southern Region continues its Warning Improvement Project.
GULF STREAM TRAINING. Steve Baig, an oceanographer with NCEP/TPC in Miami, conducted a local seminar recently covering the history, physical oceanography, and analysis techniques associated with the Gulf Stream. Participants in the seminar included a number of forecasters and managers from WFOs Miami, Melbourne and Key West. In addition, having purchased appropriate software recommended by Steve, the Miami WFO is now downloading satellite imagery from the Coastwatch Web site and analyzing sea surface temperature gradients three times weekly for the west wall of the Gulf Stream. This is now routinely included in the Coastal Marine forecast product under a GULF STREAM HAZARDS header whenever the Gulf Stream presents hazardous weather conditions for mariners. Several positive have been received from mariners.
COASTAL OFFICES ISSUE 5 DAY MARINE FORECAST. On December 13, Southern Region coastal WFOs will begin issuing the coastal marine forecast out to 5 days in detail. The main body of the forecast will be from issuance time through the Day 2 NIGHT forecast period, and the extended forecast will be from Day 3 through Day 5. The outlook period will be removed, and the synopsis and outlook will be combined into one complete synopsis which covers the entire 5-Day period. The entire five days of the coastal waters forecast will be in detail, normally including expected winds, sea conditions, significant weather, and visibility.
WFO Key West meteorologists Tom Birchard and Ernesto Morales hosted a booth at the Cuban-American Heritage Festival in Key West in November. This week-long festival celebrates Cuban-American culture. Tom and Ernesto reported that about 60 people stopped by the booth to pick up awareness literature and/or chat about weather.
WFO Jackson MIC Jim Stefkovich and WCM Jim Butch attended a press conference with the governor of Mississippi and the director of Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. The press conference was to proclaim November as tornado awareness month in Mississippi and also to re-affirm the commitment of all agencies working together to prepare the citizens of Mississippi for hazardous weather.
WFO New Orleans Area staffed a booth at the Washington Parish Free Fair, an annual event which attracted 400,000 people. About 500-700 fair goers visited the NWS booth, staffed by seven employees. ASA Paula Bolline assisted with the set up and administrative issues.
WFO Brownsville lead forecaster Paul Yura gave six 45-minute presentations on hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms and weather instruments to a total of 400 students at Besteiro Middle School. Paul discussed safety rules with the students.
WFO Melbourne staffed a weather booth at the Melbourne International Airport Extravaganza. The event consisted of static business and aviation displays and an air show each day. About 25,000 people attended. WCM Dennis Decker and forecasters Matt Bragaw and John Pendergrast distributed weather safety pamphlets and talked to the constant stream of visitors.
SAFE HOMES FOR FLORIDA INITIATIVE. Walt Zaleski (WCM, WFO Tampa Bay Area) participated in the introduction ceremony for the latest mitigation initiative to help improve and fortify newly constructed homes in the Tampa metropolitan area against hurricane force winds. The "Institute for Business and Home Safety" built and demonstrated, to the broadcast media, insurance companies and civic leaders, three newly constructed homes in Safety Harbor, Florida, which incorporated improved materials and building techniques at minimal additional cost to the homeowner, that would fortify and help mitigate the effects of hurricane force winds on a newly constructed home.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS TOUR WFO TAMPA BAY AREA. ESA George Fislar, forecasters Dan Sobien and Paul Close, and HMT Karl Loeper provided a two-hour tour to nearly 20 electronics engineers. The engineers were quite interested and impressed with the latest technologies of the NWS such as AWIPS, WSR-88D and CRS. George provided the inquisitive group a first hand look at the "guts' of the WSR-88D and heart of the AWIPS/CRS operating systems.
WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK IN TENNESSEE. WFOs Nashville and Morristown collaborated with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency to issue joint newsletters regarding their winter weather preparedness campaigns. The newsletters also covered StormReady, NWR, and extended winter weather outlooks. Nashville WCM Jerry Orchanian taped two radio interviews over the phone, one for the Tennessee radio network and the other for Murfreesboro radio station WMOT. He also did an interview about winter weather awareness week with The Dickson Herald, a newspaper based in Dickson, Tennessee.
WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS DAY IN TEXAS. Texas WFOs participated in a statewide winter weather awareness day on November 16. They issued PNSs and were featured in numerous radio interviews. WFO Brownsville WCM Hector Guerrero reported that they were particularly successful after alerting the media well in advance of the awareness day. New WCMs Ed Calianese (WFO Lubbock) and Pat Vesper (WFO Midland) took part in their first official awareness day events by issuing PNSs and conducting interviews. KFLP radio taped Ed's interview regarding NWS winter weather products and will use them during upcoming winter weather events.
WFO Birmingham sponsored the Alabama EMWIN Workshop which WCM Brian Peters reported went very well. NWSH Santos Rodriguez of the EMWIN program office was able to attend and gave a presentation on the current status and future of EMWIN. Thirty-nine people from four states attended, including many from emergency management and 911 offices. Jack Belich from the St. Petersburg, Florida Times (an EMWIN re-broadcast site) served as the luncheon speaker and gave tremendous information based on his extensive experience with EMWIN.
WFO Brownsville represented the NWS at a recent FEMA Region VI Local Emergency Planning Committee conference in McAllen, Texas. They staffed a booth which focused on NWR and StormReady. Emergency managers and planning committee members from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and Mississippi attended. Dana Watkins and Hector Guerrero met emergency managers various CWAs and said that they felt a strong sense of partnership between the NWS and the emergency management community.
WFO Jackson WCM Jim Butch set up an EMWIN system at the Emergency Operations Center in Jasper County. This system was loaned to Jasper County to allow them to evaluate whether they would want to purchase an EMWIN system at a later date.
IAEM CONFERENCE. WFO Norman WCM Jim Purpura, WFO Fort Worth WCM Gary Woodall, and Southeast RFC hydrologist Todd Hamill addressed the 48th Annual International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Conference in Austin. Representatives from NWSH and other NWS regions addressed the conference, too, helping make this meeting a success for the 300 plus attendees.
PROJECT STORMREADY COMES TO SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. WFO Tampa Bay WCM Walt Zaleski provided a one-hour presentation regarding Project StormReady at the Charlotte County Emergency Management Operations Center in Punta Gorda, Florida. The attentive group of over 20 emergency management personnel vowed their support and future participation for the project.
WFO CORPUS CHRISTI EMWIN SUCCESS STORY. WFO Corpus Christi worked hard to establish an EMWIN paging system which has been operational since June. During a recent tornado episode, the EMWIN system worked well and automatically sent a page to officials in Victoria, Texas. The following day, WFO Corpus Christi received an e-mail of thanks from the Victoria fire chief, saying the pager system worked great and they greatly appreciated the service. WCM Terry Huber and forecaster John Metz report the EMWIN system has helped enhance the WFO's image and relation with officials in the Victoria area.
It is certainly nice to hear directly from customers about the great work being performed by Southern Region offices. Here are two recent examples.
Kudos for the WFO Fort Worth Web site were received from Chikage Windler, meteorologist for the Texas Cable Network, who sent the following note.
"Just wanted to thank you and the rest of the folks at the NWS for all of the
wonderful north Texas climate data on the Web site. Just today, I pulled up the
winter weather past events & climatology -- so much useful information to drop into
my weathercasts!
I'm a meteorologist at Texas Cable News (TXCN) and we do weather coverage for the entire state.
Thanks again, and keep up the great work!"
Kudos for WFO Amarillo, too. MIC Jose Garcia happily reported a letter that he received from the Pantex Operations Center about the fine work of the WFO Amarillo staff. In part, the letter stated.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your staff for the support we receive from the National Weather Service during threatening weather. Each time we have requested information pertaining to weather related storms your staff has been courteous, professional and very helpful."
INTERAGENCY FIRE WEATHER PRESENTATION. WFO Tampa Bay forecaster David Rittenberry provided a well-rounded long range climate presentation to an audience of nearly 250 personnel of the "Central Florida Interagency Prescribed Fire Councils" annual meeting. David focused on the NCEP Climate Prediction Center winter/spring temperature and precipitation outlook with respect to the El Niño and La Niña phenomena. His timely and informative presentation provided the group an opportunity to prepare for the expected above average wildfire season due to the prolonged two-year excessive drought in Florida.
AG WEATHER SCHOOL. Tampa Bay Area SOO Charlie Paxton, spoke at a day-long weather school at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), Lake Alfred Citrus Research and Education Center. Charlie discussed NWS public products applicable to generalized agricultural purposes. Also attending the meeting were the state meteorologist and representatives from IFAS, Division of Emergency Management, and FSU's Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies. A private meteorologist with Skybit, Inc. described products and methods for producing highly specialized and localized agricultural forecasts. One of his forecast formats on a single sheet of paper had a detailed, high temporal resolution MOS-like forecast on the top, a 3-10 Day forecast in the middle and a summary of the last ten days on the bottom. Now that's a lot of information on one sheet.
VTEC. VTEC (Valid Time Event Code) provides information supplementary to the Universal Generic Code (UGC) string and permits selective dissemination and reception of NWS text watch, warning and advisory products for commercial weather providers and customers. The additional code string will be located directly below the UGC line. NWSH plans to implement VTEC in its watch, warning and advisory products during the next calendar year.
The VTEC implementation plan is available online on the SRH home page under the Climate, Water, and Weather Division. The link is available under either HSB or MSB. The implementation plan provides more details about VTEC and the implementation strategy for VTEC nationwide.
WFO Morristown will participate as one of the national VTEC test sites once AWIPS Build 5.0 is installed at their site. This field test will ensure that both WARNGEN and the WWA software can generate VTEC in the winter storm watch, warning, and advisories, non-precipitation warnings, and severe thunderstorm and tornado warning products. We will coordinate with another office shortly to identify another VTEC site in the region. Contact Ben Weiger in the CWWD Hydrologic Services Branch for further information.
AHPS VISION MEETING. Ben Weiger, chief of HSB, attended an Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services (AHPS) Vision team meeting at the NWSTC early this month. The team charter is to develop (1) a concise, non-technical definition of AHPS, (2) a prioritized list of AHP "Service" improvements for the next 0-5 years and 5-10 years, (3) a manageable set of AHPS success criteria, (4) guidelines to ensure consistency in products and services, and (5) a list of resources to facilitate AHPS outreach. A meeting summary will be prepared for review and approval by the regional directors, and NSWH office directors.
DROUGHT MONITOR FORUM. On November 16-17, Ben Weiger (HSB) attended a Drought Monitor Forum held at the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. This forum was used as an opportunity to obtain customer feedback on the national Drought Monitor Web site. Customers included commodity analysts, commercial weather providers, media, NWS national, regional, and field office personnel, legislative aides from the two senators representing Nebraska, state climatologists, and Regional Climate Center directors. Some feedback included animation of the weekly drought monitor graphic, visible links on the drought monitor home page that provide a definition of terminology (e.g., drought indices, drought categories), used in creating the drought monitor graphic, issuing the drought monitor graphic product and associated text prior to the opening of the stock markets, generating separate maps to show agricultural, fire danger, and hydrologic drought areas, and developing performance measures for the seasonal drought outlooks and the long-lead climate outlooks.
The drought monitor folks would love to have your comments on the contents of the draft drought monitor graphic and associated text prior to the product issuance on Thursdays. You can provide your office input by subscribing to the drought monitor listserver. To subscribe, send an email to Kim Klemsz at the National Drought Mitigation Center, firstname.lastname@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.com.
THE NATIONAL PRECIPITATION VERIFICATION UNIT. The NPVU, part of the NCEP Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, became operational on October 1. The NPVU is responsible for generating verification statistics for RFC QPF. They also are mosaicking CONUS RFC 6-hour and 24-hour aggregates of gridded quantitative precipitation estimates, 6-hour and 24-hour RFC QPF, and 1-, 3-, and 6-hour gridded flash flood guidance to generate national graphics of these fields on their Web site. The URL for this Web site is http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/npvu. We encourage you to place links to this information on your local Web sites.
MULTI-DAY QUANTITATIVE PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES ONLINE. The Lower Mississippi RFC recently updated their home page with a link that provides 2-, 3-, 5-, and 7-Day graphics of WSR-88D Stage III quantitative precipitation estimates http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lmrfc/precip/stage3/day_total_st3.shtml. These graphics will provide LMRFC internal and external customers and partners with useful information, especially during and after multi-day storm events.
October was a month of rainfall extremes across the Southern Region. Hydrologic Service Areas (HSAs) in the eastern part of the region recorded well below normal rainfall while a good part Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma received several inches of rain.
In East Tennessee, October 2000 became the driest month ever recorded at Tri-Cities with just 0.02 inches of rainfall. Another observing station near Knoxville tied their driest October on record with just a trace of precipitation. The extremely dry conditions brought a large number of fires across East Tennessee during the month.
On the other end of the spectrum, much of Texas and New Mexico finally received some much need rain during October. The 2.66 inches of rainfall at the Albuquerque International Airport was enough to make the seventh wettest October on record since 1892. Other areas of New Mexico received considerably more rain during October with 4 to 7 inch totals being recorded. In Texas, Amarillo recorded it's eighth wettest October since the weather records started. October was an active rainfall month in Midland's HSA with several flooding rainfall episodes closing roads across the area. The San Antonio HSA also had plenty of rainfall which generated several river stage crests above flood stage.
For those of you who still have telephone connections to river gauges that have non-NWS dataloggers, a couple of dialing routines have been developed by Brian Jackson at the Office of Hydrology to collect data from Campbell Scientific and Sutron dataloggers. Unlike the current LARC dialing script in LDAD, the OH application will collect several hours of data with a single phone call and SHEF encode the data. The application is being tested by Nezette Rydell at San Antonio. AWIPS Build 5.0 should see the ability to dial Campbell Scientific dataloggers and collect data. Stay tuned.
For the WFOs that have ALERT systems and are collecting data through a Hydromet computer, we now have a way to get collect this data through LDAD. WFO Tulsa met intern Dave Manning has worked to develop software to collect raw alert data with LDAD, SHEF encode it and ship it out on the WAN for dissemination. Dave has been running the software at Tulsa for several months and several improvements have been made. The software has recently been installed at WFO Houston and is available as an AWIPS local application.
CAREERS IN METEOROLOGY. Frequently in our educational outreach activities questions come up from students and teachers regarding careers in meteorology. Most offices have probably developed their own materials to help address those questions, but a useful booklet to supplement that is also available from the American Meteorological Society. The title is Challenges of Our Changing Atmosphere - Careers in Atmospheric Research and Applied Meteorology, and a copy can be downloaded from the AMS Web site at http://www.ametsoc.org/AMS/. Click on "Student Information and Resources" at the bottom of the list of choices on the left-hand side of the home page.
Browsing this Web site will reveal a considerable amount of other related information which may be useful for students and others potentially interested in a career in meteorology. Although it is referenced, I was unable to locate on the AMS site a list of the educational requirements for employment as a meteorologist with the federal government. Those (the X-118 standards) can be found at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-IV/B/GS1300/1340.HTM. Replace "1340" with "1315" to find the standards for the hydrologist series.
UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT PROGRAM. A call for applications for the UAP will probably be issued soon. Some changes are anticipated in the program this year which we believe will simplify and streamline the application and approval process. Pending the call announcement, we encourage interested employees to contact SSD (Dan Smith) for more information, or review the UAP description from last year which can be linked to from SSD's page on the Southern Region Web site (http://www.srh.noaa.gov/).
SRH HOSTS GIS MEETING. Southern Region Headquarters hosted the quarterly meeting of the Texas Federal Geographic Working Group during November. This is a consortium of federal, state and local Geographic Information System (GIS) users and administrators. The one-day meeting went very well with a large focus on ways to use the a national hydrography dataset being developed. RD Bill Proenza opened the meeting by briefly describing the NWS mission and special challenges we encounter in our region. A presentation was also made by SSD which included examples of how NWS is using GIS technology and where we want to go with it. About 20 participants from around the state enjoyed their opportunity to view NWS operations and systems first-hand and learn about how we incorporate GIS into operations.
SEMINARS AT MORRISTOWN. Medium-range models and winter weather were subjects of two seminars presented last month at WFO Morristown. Mike Schichtel from the NCEP Hydrometeorological Prediction Center made the presentations. The first seminar described the fundamentals and use of several medium-range models, including a comparison of the various models and their relative performance. The winter weather seminar included examples of products and how they are derived by HPC forecasters. In addition to the Morristown staff and a visiting forecaster from WFO Atlanta, two other NWS regions were represented with four visitors from WFO Jackson, Kentucky, including the MIC and SOO, and the SOO from WFO Greer, South Carolina. We appreciate the support provided by NCEP and Mike Schichtel, and the work of Morristown SOO Stephen Parker in arranging the sessions.
CORPUS CHRISTI PROVIDES COLLEGE SEMINAR. On November 18, the Natural Sciences Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi hosted a presentation on the operations of the National Weather Service. SOO Andy Patrick was guest lecturer. Andy discussed the history and background of the Weather Bureau/NWS in Corpus Christi, including modernization. He also provided detailed information on the NWS use of recent technologies, including the use of Flash and Palm Pilots. Andy concluded the presentation by utilizing Flash technology to discuss the formation of lightning and seabreezes. Over 150 students, faculty, and staff attended this presentation, which was an impressive turnout, considering inclement weather.
NEW WARNING DECISION TRAINING BRANCH CHIEF. By now most are probably aware the WSR-88D Operational Support Facility (OSF) has been renamed the Radar Operations Center. The OSF Operations Training Branch is now the Warning Decision Training Branch, but note it is a branch of the NWSH Training Division, not the ROC. In other words, the WDTB is part of the new NWS training structure which includes management of the NWS Training Center in Kansas City and oversight of COMET in Boulder. Ed Mahoney, currently SOO at WFO Buffalo, has been selected as the new Chief of the WDTB. He will assume his new duties in January.
RAINBOW WARRIORS. University of Hawaii alumni Scott Spratt (WFO Melbourne) and Bernard Meisner (SSD) each conducted seminars for the meteorology department while they were on vacation during November. (When you attend school in paradise, every day is a working day as well as a holiday!)
Scott's seminar, entitled "Radar Detection of Tropical Cyclone Mesocyclones: Increasing Forecaster Awareness and Improving Tornado Warning Lead Times," summarized several studies completed at WFO Melbourne over the last five years, and included topics such as: a defined spectrum of Tropical Cyclone (TC) mesocyclones, a radar-based documentation of mesocyclone families, lightning signals associated with TC tornadoes, locally developed warning strategies, a summary of operations during TC Josephine (1996), and preliminary findings from a joint NWS MLB and NOAA/HRD study on TC Bonnie (1998) mesovorticies. The seminar was attended by over 25 UH students and staff, as well as several forecasters from the co-located Honolulu NWS office.
Bernard's meteorology department seminar was entitled "NCEP's Model Output Soundings and Meteorograms: New Guidance for Aviation Forecasts," and generated a discussion about visibility measurement and verification. In Hawaii, sea spray, smoke from cane fires and "vog" (volcanic smoke and fog) often limit visibility as frequently as precipitation or fog.
Bernard also spoke to the local AMS chapter on: "What's New and Planned in NCEP's Model Suite" and made a brief visit to the Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center/Joint Typhoon Warning Center at Pearl Harbor.
ASOS. In an effort to reduce outages which exceed the prescribed restore time, we have created a database for tracking the ASOS exceeded outages. We hope to identify any systematic reasons for exceeding the time requirements for ASOS repairs. The data will be evaluated, and sampled again in February-March. Once the problems are identified and with the coordination of field sites, and AOMC, we hope to be able to reduce the number of exceeded outages.
EMRS ENHANCEMENT. Jointly with NWSH, the regional EPMs met in Silver Spring to identify improvements to EMRS. Some items of concern are simplifying how Mal Codes, clarification of EMRS graphs, establishing accurate documentation for workload hours, one source of modification reporting, and how to assure consistent reporting.
E-MAIL. During the most recent Netscape Messaging VTC, it was learned that the third turnover in contract personnel providing Netscape support to the regions has occurred at NWSH. This has all occurred within a period of about one and a half years which has certainly had its affect on the stability and continuity of support to the regions. Fortunately, networking among the regional messaging focal points and help from NOAA folks, such as Thomas K. Murphy and Danny Dillon has been invaluable in getting the job done.
One item of interest is the plan to have a Netscape support engineer on site at NWSH. This would be an improvement over the Netscape support provided in the past. Another item is the future plan to have an iPlanet Calendar server based on a Web browser client to replace the present third party calendar solution that Netscape is moving away from. The latest versions of Netscape Communicator do not include the original calendar support function.
AWIPS. Build 4.3.3 upgrades are well underway in Southern Region and all sites will complete it by the end of December. SRH is testing the 5.0 upgrade, which will also be tested at WFO Knoxville/Tri-Cities the first part of December.
During November two Southern Region employees and one person from four different sites (Tampa Bay, Lubbock, Tulsa, and Norman) were sent to GFE (gridded forecast editor) training. GFE will run at those offices on a dedicated Linux PC, instead of an AWIPS Workstation, so no negative impacts will affect our commissioned system. In the next three months, we will be working with user groups to establish a standard format for at least one new product to be produced by GFE at those sites. After the format is set, those offices will begin regularly producing the new product(s) by using GFE on every shift. However, it is expected that the resolution of the new products will be too high for our current AWIPS configuration to produce. For example, a forecast of land/sea breeze interaction zones is desired. However, the AWIPS based IFPS (which includes GFE) will only operate at a 19 km resolution, which will not be high enough to resolve such small scale features.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS. On November 14, representatives from MCI and Yorktel, an MCI contractor, installed and tested the VTC equipment and circuit at SRH. The AT&T equipment and circuit was disconnected and the new configuration was installed. After numerous tests to insure successful connectivity, the tests were halted. The original AT&T equipment was connected, tested, and is currently operational. The Southern Region VTC circuit and equipment is currently ready to change to FTS2001 services.
Concerning the transition of the NWR service to FTS2001, on November 16 we attended a VTC with NWSHQ and MCI. The meeting was called to discuss some of the problems we are having with MCI delivering the services for NWR that are specifically required for the transmitters to operate. MCI acknowledged that they have had some problems administratively with the way orders are written, and those problems have been resolved. Currently at issue is whether MCI can deliver the NWR circuits as the orders are written and in a timely manner. Southern Region provided two NWR sites for beta testing of MCIs capability to deliver services as prescribed in the written orders and in a reasonable time. These sites are Tallahassee, Florida to Pelham, Georgia and Tallahassee to Harira, Georgia. These were chosen because MCI has problems with the address issues on NWR sites that do not have a 911 addressing. As stated to MCI repeatedly, NWS has many NWR field sites that do not have 911 service addresses, yet we have services at these locations. This is a major issue that has to be resolved before MCI can move forward with issuing orders and installing NWR circuits.
We our concerned about the lack of official documentation coming forth with this migration to FST2001. We are asking our field sites to make hardware changes to systems that are under configuration management without official modification notes. For example, we are about to direct our site to move the Regional Frame Relay router from its current location to inside the AWIPS communications rack. This is being done to facilitate the move to a single access line. While we understand that this has been coordinated with PRC we still have no approved Mod note on it.
CHANGES IN WSR-88D ARCHIVE II RECORDING AT SELECT SITES. Some NWS WFOs have installed in their office a Remote Interface Data Display System (RIDDS) which makes WSR-88D Level II base data available to universities for research purposes. Many of the RIDDS sites have had their Level II data flowing continuously to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) on an experimental basis for several months, via the Internet/Abilene Network. Developing this prototype capability to transmit Level II data to NCDC and archive the data in real time has been a cooperative effort of the NCDC, National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), University of Oklahoma, and the NWS Radar Operations Center (ROC - formerly the OSF), working with funding from the NOAA Environmental Services Data Information Management (ESDIM) Program.
The success rate of real-time data archival at the NCDC using this system has exceeded that of using the jukeboxes and 8mm tapes. This method is also very time efficient and less labor intensive due to no reliance on the jukebox. As a result, the ROC has authorized the suspension of NCDC Level II archiving via the jukebox for the following WSR-88D sites in the Southern Region.
Amarillo (KAMA)
Ft. Worth (KFWS)
Lubbock (KLBB)
Norman (KOUN)
It is expected additional WSR-88D sites that are currently outfitted with a RIDDS box can suspend their jukebox Archive II recording in the near future. Details on this will be forthcoming.
ASOS COMMISSIONINGS CONTINUE. During November, the commissionings of FAA sponsored ASOS sites continued. In November, FAA sponsored ASOS sites were commissioned at Carlsbad, New Mexico; Wink, Texas; and Ponca City, Oklahoma. The commissionings went smoothly thanks to the hard work of all NWS field personnel involved in the process.
OPEN RPG UPDATE. Current plans call for WFO Norman to be the Beta test site for Open RPG installation and operational use. At the present time, it appears as though this will occur in about the April, 2001 time frame.
One of the most anticipated upgrades associated with Open RPG implementation will be the possibility of ingesting Doppler weather radar from FAA Terminal Doppler Weather Radars (TDWR) into the AWIPS via the Open RPG.
The existence of a TDWR at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City will facilitate the testing and ingest of TDWR data to a WFO via AWIPS using the ORPG.
KEY WEST RDA FUEL CATCHMENT. The first draft of the new Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures Plan (SPCC) for the Key West RDA quoted the EPA requirement for a catchment to contain the entire contents of the largest single compartment of the diesel fuel delivery truck, estimated at 4,000 gallons, plus an additional amount for rainwater. This is spelled out in 40 CFR Part 112.7(e)(4) and will require significant resources to comply unless an alternative design is chosen over the concrete version proposed by the SPCC contractor.
RESOLUTION OF ATLANTA UPPER AIR SAFETY PROBLEM. The inoperative safety switch on the antenna of the Atlanta WFO/RFC ART2 was replaced and is now functional according to calibration. This replacement was due to the combined efforts of Charlie Lake at SRH, former upper air instructor at NWSTC, ESA Brian Burgess at WFO Atlanta, and Terry Brisbin, SRH Environmental and Safety Program Manager. There was a potential risk of personnel injury had the safety switch not been replaced and office personnel energized the upper air controls while maintenance personnel were in the antenna dome.
RDA RF EXPOSURE REVIEW. A flexible waveguide in the RDA shelter cracked at WFO El Paso resulting in an RF leak inside the shelter. The leak was first detected by the monitor in the receiver rack, and it was later measured by employees with an RF detector supplied by Radar Operations Center (formerly OSF). The exposure level at the source exceeded the OSHA permissible amount but employees were located at a safe distance. Appropriate action was taken to follow up on this incident. RF detectors have been ordered for all Southern Region RDA sites and that will allow more frequent checks for RF leaks than required by the ROC. The flexible waveguide inside the RDA will be flagged for periodic surveillance. Actions in this instance have been shared with the other regions.
ASBESTOS SURVEY POSITIVE AT DEL RIO UPPER AIR BUILDING. Samples of three different floor tiles sampled by a licensed asbestos survey company resulted in all three being positive. Extensive renovations are planned to keep this building in operation as an Upper Air site, and bids will be solicited for abating the asbestos-containing floor tiles before renovation work begins.
INTERNET-ROSA. The Internet ROSA was demonstrated to the Southern Region Headquarters IT team in early November. This software package will allow the volunteer observers to submit near real-time cooperative program data to the Southern Region NWS offices using Internet technology. The SRH IT team will determine the best method to migrate the SHEF encoded ROSA information from the SRH Web Server to the AWIPS. It is hoped that this new technology will be available for the Cooperative Program observer by the first of the year.
CSSA. The New CSSA was demonstrated to the SR MICs and SRH division chiefs during the recent MIC/HIC conference. This was the first opportunity for most of these managers to see the new metadata archive software. Most comment were favorable and suggestions for software improvement have been forwarded to the development team at NWSH.
AUTHORIZATION FOR TRAINING APPROVAL. All MICs, HICs and division chiefs are reminded to sign, date and return to ADMN (W/SR5) the cover memo which accompanied distribution a few weeks ago of ROML S-09-2000, "Training Policies and Procedures." Signing that page signifies completion of the required training for the delegation of training approval and funding authority.
WFO SHREVEPORT. The staff celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by meeting for lunch at a local Mexican Restaurant. They discussed Hispanic history, and the diversity of Hispanics and Latinos.
The staff also observed Disability Awareness Month by having a luncheon in the office. Tracey Carrin was the speaker. She is the wife of Glenn Carrin, a senior forecaster in Shreveport. Tracey's talk focused mainly on the hearing impaired. She discussed that those who are hearing impaired consider themselves and their language (sign language) as a culture. She explained that many people who are hearing impaired will not recognize themselves as disabled. She also gave tips on communicating with the hearing impaired, and talked about the different types of sign language. This session was very informative in learning the culture of the hearing impaired. You may see highlights of this session on the Shreveport Web Page.
Forecaster Bill Parker gave a talk on Severe Weather Preparedness, NWS Operations, and a career in meteorology to Huntington High School in Shreveport, a predominantly African-American school.
HMT Steve Griffin gave a talk to Green Valley Elementary School in North Richland Hills on the operations of the NWS and Severe Weather Safety.
SOO Ken Falk and ESA Mike Waddell gave a tour to West Monroe High School ROTC on the operations of the NWS and talked about careers with the NWS.
Jason Hansford, met intern, participated in a Science Fair by Quachita Parish 4-H Club in West Monroe, Louisiana. Discussions centered around the operations of the NWS, Severe Weather Prepardness and Safety, NWR, and careers with the NWS.
Bill Murrell, met intern, gave a talk to fifth and sixth graders at Price T. Young Middle School in Marshall, Texas, about Tornadoes, Tornado Alley, and the differences between snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain. He also discussed the various equipment used by the NWS, career opportunities, and the necessary classes needed to become a meteorologist.
WFO SAN JUAN. The WFO has been quite busy with office tours and presentations, among them:
HMT Bob Cari and forecaster Daniel Melendez conducted a tour of WFO operations for 15 Girl Scouts, Troop #129 from Baldwin School. The girl scouts had a great time and learned about MARD and local climatology.
DAPM Francisco Balleste and forecaster Hector Rivera conducted a tour of WFO operations for 25 students from Francisco Gaztambide High School History and Geography Club.
MIC Israel Matos gave a two hour slide presentation on historical floods that affected Puerto Rico at the Natural Hazards Historical Workshop sponsored by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency. The government of Puerto Rico designated October 11, as "Natural Disaster Reduction Day." The workshop was attended by 60 emergency managers.
Forecaster Hector Rivera assisted a ninth grade student with a science fair project on marine currents and how they affect climate.
WCM Rafael Mojica, Francisco Balleste, and forecaster Andy Roche conducted a two-hour office tour for 27 tenth grade students of the Pedro Falu Community High School. Students learned about hurricane forecasting and latest WFO technology.
Rafael Mojica conducted an office operations tour for two elementary school students interested in meteorology as a future career. The students were shown NOAA's movie Realms of Unique Planet.
Rafael also conducted an office tour for nine student pilots of the Southern Aeronautics Flying School. Aviation forecasting was discussed in depth, students were provided with TAF's decoding cards and NWS preparedness publications. Also touring were six students of the Inter-American University advanced aviation course. Students were thrilled about latest technology and its benefits to the general community. Rafael also assisted a female high school student with her science fair project on snow, providing guidance and Internet links on precipitation types.
Daniel Melendez participated in the Mountain Fury Clinic and delivered a presentation on orographic waves, associated clouds and dynamical signatures for 40 pilots of the USDI mining Academy in Beckley, West Virginia.
Senior forecaster Brian Seeley conducted an office tour for 15 members of the Puerto Rico German Club. They were interested in seeing WFO operations. Mr. Seeley discussed local weather patterns, island effects, hurricanes versus mid-latitude systems, and tropical cyclones of the last 10 years.
WFO TALLAHASSEE. During November, WFO Tallahassee's Outreach Program remained active with an emphasis on school activities. Senior forecaster and EEO focal point Ron Block was a science fair judge at Raa Middle School and career day speaker on meteorology as a profession at Childs High School. He met with weather coordinators at five area schools to discuss weather equipment and the feasibility of commencing NWS sponsored school weather projects. This included McClay School, Ft. Braden School, Woodville Elementary, Buck Lake Elementary and Godby High School. At Godby, he discussed aviation meteorology with members of the Junior ROTC. At Tallahassee's Unity in the Community Children's Week festival, Ron disseminated youth oriented literature and discussed the importance of studying science in school. WCM Bob Goree discussed severe weather with a focus on tornados at the Waycross, Georgia, Kiwanis Club.
RFC TULSA. The ABRFC and the Tulsa WFO conducted several joint tours of the offices. Among them were for the Walt Disney Academy where approximately 50 high school students of various ethnic backgrounds were in attendance; Kerr Elementary School for approximately 75 fourth and fifth grade students; and for 25 home-school students.
The ABRFC continues to conduct mini-diversity seminars during the monthly staff meetings. This provides an opportunity for all ABRFC employees to learn about the strengths of fellow individuals, as well as potential improvements for the entire working group.
|Southern Region Losses
|From (Office)
|From Title/Grade
|John Kuhn
|Promotion to NWSH
|HAS Forecaster, GS-12
|John Gulley
|Transfer to DOD
|El Tech, GS-11
|Zaaron Allen
|Reassignment to AR
|Lead Forecaster, GS-13
|Timothy Coleman
|Met Intern, GS-7
|Helena Cichon
|Transfer to DOI
|Melvin Murrell
|Meteorologist, GS-12
|Wayne Mashburn
|WFO Key West
|El Tech, GS-11
|Southern Region Gains
|To (Office)
|To Title/Grade
|Michael Vescio
|Reassignment from SPC
|Glen Woodall
|Promotion from AR
|Within Region Transfers/Actions
|To (Office)
|To Title/Grade
|Robert Boyd
|Promotion from MAF
|Senior Forecaster, GS-13
|Erma Nations
|Promotion from AMD
|Secretary, GS-8
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