Weather watches and warnings are not just for the U.S.

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center teams with international meteorological offices

It’s been an incredible hurricane season so far. In fact, NOAA’s National Hurricane Center has issued hundreds of watches and warnings, but none have been for locations outside of the United States. Why?

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite captured this image of post-tropical cyclone Ophelia as it struck Ireland on October 16, 2017

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite captured this image of post-tropical cyclone Ophelia as it struck Ireland on October 16, 2017 (Image credit: NOAA-NASA)

By international agreement through the World Meteorological Organization offsite link, the National Hurricane Center doesn’t issue them for foreign countries. It’s an arrangement that’s been in place for more than 40 years and works well with all of the WMO national meteorological services. Those offices have the local expertise and know the needs of their customers and citizens. So the hurricane center provides the storm-scale forecast of the track, intensity, and size of the tropical cyclone and coordinates directly with those offices that are in harm’s way. Those offices then have the final say and will issue watches and warnings for their own coastlines. This was the case with Irma and Maria, which affected many countries in the Caribbean region. And most recently with Ophelia.

Hurricane Ophelia set several records, including the strongest hurricane ever recorded so far east over the Atlantic Ocean.  But it was the National Hurricane Center's forecast track that got a lot of attention. The forecast was aimed at Ireland and the United Kingdom – a rare event. Even though Ophelia was not expected to be a tropical system before it approached Ireland, it would still be a powerful post-tropical cyclone with direct impacts from hurricane-force winds and rain.

NHC began coordinating its messaging with Ireland's Met Eirann offsite link and the United Kingdom's Met Office on October 12, issuing a Key Messages graphic as part of its public advisories. Those messages described the possibility of direct impacts from Ophelia, urging residents to monitor the storm's progress for the next several days and to refer to products issued by Met Eireann and the UK Met Office.

NOAA's National Hurricane Center provided vital information used by Ireland's Met Eireann and the United Kingdom's UK Met Office
NOAA's National Hurricane Center provided vital information used by Ireland's Met Eireann and the United Kingdom's UK Met Office (NOAA)

For the next three days the National Hurricane Center, along with NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center and Weather Prediction Center, worked closely with the two agencies. The NHC hurricane specialist discussed the storm-scale forecast, while the Met Eirann and UK Met Office handled the local-level impacts and hazards. Thanks to the coordination between NOAA and its international partners, residents were prepared.