NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database

Across the U.S., many swimming seasons are cut short due to the presence of waterborne pathogens in the ocean. What are the most common pathogens, how do they enter the water, and what are scientists doing to keep us safe?

Heat is one of the leading weather-related killers in the United States, resulting in hundreds of fatalities each year. Everyone can be vulnerable to heat, but some more so than others. This resource is designed to prepare you for excessive heat events, describe what to do during a an excessive heat wave, and inform you about the health dangers of heat.

Climate models predict that downpours will become still more more frequent and intense as greenhouse gas emissions and the planet’s temperature continue to rise.

In most years, thunderstorms, tornadoes and lightning cause hundreds of injuries and deaths and billions in property and crop damages. To obtain critical weather information, the National Weather Service (NWS) established SKYWARN® with partner organizations. SKYWARN® is a volunteer program with between 350,000 and 400,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service.

One spring day in 2014, a shy young boy sidled up to the booth Ashley Braun, a writer with NOAA, was standing at during an open house hosted at NOAA's Seattle campus. His blond head just peaking over the table, this then-six-year-old, Alek, accompanied by his mom and younger sister, proceeded to ask how NOAA's oil spill trajectory model, GNOME, works. This was definitely not the question Braun was expecting from a child his age.

NOAA documents changes in high-tide flooding patterns from the previous year at 97 NOAA tide gauges along the U.S. coast, and provides a flooding outlook for these locations for the coming year, as well as projections for the next several decades.

Few real-world signs of climate change are easier to read than changes in the growing season of familiar vegetation. From lilacs — which are flowering earlier — to allergy-causing ragweed, which is producing pollen longer into the fall, vegetation is reacting to Earth’s rising surface temperature.

Hindsight and Foresight was written and directed by marine biologist, Gary Shigenaka, of the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration Emergency Response Division (formerly the Hazardous Materials Response Branch). The movie received two awards: a bronze Telly Award and Honorable Mention at the Blue Ocean Film Festival in Savannah, Georgia. It was also selected as a featured film at the Paris International Environmental Film Festival.

Search historical tsunami events, Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART®) buoy data, and tide gauge records.

Information on some of the notable hurricanes and tropical storms going back to 1900.