NOAA forecasters say they are increasingly confident that drought will linger in areas of the West and floods could possibly threaten portions of the south and east during the spring of 2003. At a recent news conference held in Washington, NOAA officials said El Niño’s influence on the nation’s fall and winter precipitation patterns was not enough to alleviate the multi-year drought and serious water supply shortages over much of the Western United States (including parts of Oregon, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Arizona, and New Mexico). However, winter precipitation from El Niño helped wipe out abnormally dry conditions in the east.

“We can say goodbye to El Niño in the next month or so,” said NOAA administrator Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher. “Depending on where you live or play, you’re either thankful for the drought-busting Eastern rains and snow, or disappointed by the lack of Western snow pack.”

National Weather Service Deputy Director, John Jones, speaking at at a recent news conference held in Washington. Photo courtesy of Greg Hernandez, NOAA Public Affairs.

NOAA administrator Vice Adm., Conrad C. Lautenbacher, speaking at a recent news conference held in Washington. Photo courtesy of Greg Hernandez, NOAA Public Affairs.

Mary Glackin has been named NOAA’s first assistant administrator of Program Planning and Integration. The new position will manage cross-cutting teams to bridge talent, funding and management from various NOAA offices to focus on specific programs. Coordination of these matrix management teams is an important and essential step in ensuring their success.

Glackin, formerly at NOAA Satellites and Information, has been responsible for the operation of several key areas, including satellite operations, satellite data processing and distribution, systems development, and research and applications as well as three national data centers. Her managerial skills saved the government millions of dollars and won the 1999 Smithsonian-Computer World Award for Information Technology in the energy, environment, and agriculture category. She also received the 2001 Presidential Rank Award for extraordinary contributions to NOAA's management and programs.

Mary Glackin, NOAA’s first assistant administrator of Program Planning and Integration.

I am delighted to recognize Aaron H. Woodard, a stalwart in our Office of Finance and Administration. Aaron began working for the federal government over a half century ago, and nearly all of his years of dedicated service have been with NOAA, or this agency’s predecessors. Three years after beginning his career at the Department of Defense, Aaron started working as a meteorological technician at the “Weather Bureau,” forerunner of NOAA’s National Weather Service. Aaron then moved on to the forerunner of NESDIS. In 1965, when that area was folded into the new Environmental Science Services Administration, Aaron stayed on board. He manually plotted weather maps--national maps were literally sliced into pieces so rotating crews of 24 people could simultaneously plot different sections of the country on tight deadlines. From weather stations throughout the country, the data was sent by teletype to Suitland, Maryland.

TIROS satellites took images of Earth and sent back images on which to base forecasts. Aaron talks about how these images were pieced together with glue! Back then, focus was on the atmosphere; oceans were not yet in the forefront.

Today Aaron is still on the job, supporting budget challenges at our Washington, DC headquarters office. No talk of retirement! On behalf of everyone at NOAA, I wish to thank Aaron for so many years of continuing federal service.

Aaron H. Woodard, Office of Finance and Administration.

We thought we had Too Much Snow here in Washington this winter (including a spring snowfall that bumped up against baseball’s Opening Day), but Cheyenne, Wyo. meteorologist-in-charge Bill Parker took these pictures outside his home in March. Somewhere under there is, we presume, his house.

Winter in Cheyenne, Wyo. Photo by Bill Parker (NOAA Meteorologist).

The Washington, DC chapter of the American Meteorological Society will present NOAA and the Global Earth Observing System, featuring a speech by NOAA Administrator Lautenbacher, on Wednesday, April 23 at the NOAA Auditorium in Silver Spring. For more information, see the chapter’s Web site.

Correction:
The e-mail announcing the last issue of accessNOAA should have referred to "five day hurricane forecasts," not "five day hurricane warnings."

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Date Last Updated: April 10, 2003 2:21 PM