Tornado Warnings are issued to enable the public to get out of harm’s way and mitigate preventable loss. NWS forecasters issue approximately 2,900 Tornado Warnings per year, primarily between the Rockies and Appalachian Mountains. Tornado Warning statistics are based on a comparison of warnings issued and weather spotter observations of tornadoes and/or storm damage surveys from Weather Forecast Offices in the United States. Accuracy or probability of detection (POD) is the percentage of time a tornado actually occurred in an area that was covered by a tornado warning. The difference between the accuracy percentage figure and 100% represents the percentage of events occurring without warning. Most tornadoes cannot be visually tracked from beginning to end and post-storm damage surveying is the official method with which the NWS categorizes tornado characteristics (intensity, path length & width) but must rely on radar data to estimate the timing of the tornado track.

Description Digital Coast is a web-based platform that provides geospatial data, tools, and training to coastal communities. This measure, obtained via web statistics, provides a locational context that allows the effort to broadly assess where its users are coming from. Given that the Digital Coast effort is national in scope, yet local in its approach to providing geospatial information to address coastal issues, such as coastal resilience, this measure provides valuable information that is used to direct outreach efforts and support content development. The number of communities using Digital Coast is based on Census-designated places within coastal states, including all Census-defined cities, towns, townships, boroughs, and incorporated municipalities.

The process of designating or expanding National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS) and National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs) can take several years. To provide more regular updates, measure tracks progress in advancing proposed designations and expansions through these processes. The area for a proposed expansion or designation is only added to the measure once it completes a step in process, and only steps completed on or after 10/1/2021 are counted. For Sanctuaries, target and actual areas (sq. miles) are estimated based on proposal information; they remain estimates until actual designation or expansion is complete. For NERRs, the area for a proposed reserve cannot be estimated (and therefore are not included in targets or actuals) until the state-directed site selection process is complete and a range of alternatives (i.e., proposed reserve boundaries) has been developed for the environmental analysis process.

Weather information users are surveyed continuously by means of a web-based, pop-up survey on NWS web pages throughout the Nation. A sample size of approximately 6,000 responses is collected quarterly for a maximum of 24,000 annual responses. The Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) score is calculated as a weighted average of three survey questions that measure different facets of satisfaction with NWS services. American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) researchers use proprietary software technology to estimate the weighting. The three questions include the overall satisfaction of NWS services, expectations of service, and a comparison to an ideal organization. Indexes are reported on a 0 to 100 scale. The CSI was started in the United States in 1994 by researchers at the University of Michigan, in conjunction with the American Society for Quality in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and CFI Group in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Index was developed to provide information on satisfaction with the quality of products and services available to consumers. The survey data serve as inputs to an econometric model that benchmarks customer satisfaction with more than 300 companies in 43 industries and 10 economic sectors, as well as various services of federal and local government agencies.

Americans live in the most severe weather-prone country on Earth. StormReady Communities support a Weather- Ready Nation by preparing for the occurrence of high impact environmental events. On an annual basis NWS targets 100 new StormReady Communities pending funding availability.
StormReady supports NWS’ disaster risk reduction strategy and is offered to provide guidance and incentive to officials who want to improve their hazardous weather and flood operations. A long-term goal for the program is to make every county or county-equivalent in the United States StormReady. The 2010 U.S. Census identifies 3,234 county or county-equivalents in the United States. We are 44 percent of the way there with 1,419 county or county- equivalents currently recognized as StormReady. A StormReady Community is defined as a local government* entity or facility** that has the authority and ability to adopt the StormReady recognition guidelines for the residents and visitors within its jurisdiction.
*The term “local government” means –
(A) A county, parish, borough, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority, school district, special district, intrastate district, council of governments (regardless of whether the council of governments is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under State law), regional or interstate government entity, or agency or instrumentality of a local government;
(B) An Indian tribe or authorized tribal organization, or Alaska Native village or organization; and a rural community, unincorporated town or village, or other public entity, which has the ability to achieve StormReady recognition.
**The term “facility” for a StormReady community exclusively means - universities, military installations, state/national parks, power plants/utilities, transportation centers (e.g., airports), theme parks/entertainment complex, and large event venues (e.g. stadiums).

Americans live in the most severe weather-prone country on Earth. TsunamiReady Communities support a Weather-Ready Nation by preparing for the occurrence of high impact environmental events. On an annual basis NWS targets 50 new and renewed TsunamiReady communities pending funding availability.
A TsunamiReady County or Community or Tribe is defined as a coastal local government entity* that has the authority and ability to adopt the TsunamiReady recognition guidelines for the residents and visitors within its jurisdiction.
*The term “local government” here means –
(A) a county, parish (LA), borough (AK), or municipality (PR)
(B) an incorporated municipality, city, town, or township
(C) an Indian tribe or authorized tribal organization, or Alaska Native village or organization
(D) a military installation

The measure captures the count of significant and discrete OAR research and development products that have transitioned to development, demonstration, or an application. Products include transitions occurring within OAR and applying group(s) outside of OAR. This includes research, development, and demonstration performed and supported by OAR as well as utilization of OAR R&D products by external parties.

Tornado Warnings are issued to enable the public to get out of harm’s way and mitigate preventable loss. NWS forecasters issue approximately 2,900 Tornado Warnings per year, primarily between the Rockies and Appalachian Mountains. Tornado Warning statistics are based on a comparison of warnings issued and weather spotter observations of tornadoes and/or storm damage surveys from Weather Forecast Offices in the United States. The false alarm ratio (FAR) is the percentage of times a tornado warning was issued, but no tornado occurrence was verified. Most tornadoes cannot be visually tracked from beginning to end and post-storm damage surveying is the official method with which the NWS categorizes tornado characteristics (intensity, path length & width) but must rely on radar data to estimate the timing of the tornado track.

*Please also note that a FAR is the number of false alarms per the total number of warnings. If an FAR actual is higher than the target, then the target has not been met. If the actual is the same number or less, then it has been met or exceeded.

Tornado Warnings are issued to enable the public to get out of harm’s way and mitigate preventable loss. NWS forecasters issue approximately 2,900 Tornado Warnings per year, primarily between the Rockies and Appalachian Mountains. Tornado Warning statistics are based on a comparison of warnings issued and weather spotter observations of tornadoes and/or storm damage surveys from Weather Forecast Offices in the United States. Lead Time (LT) for a Tornado Warning is the difference between the time the warning was issued and the time the tornado occurred (based on certified reports) in minutes, assuming the tornado tracked within the bounds of the warned area. Lead Times for all tornado occurrences within the U.S. are averaged to get this statistic for a given fiscal year. This average includes all warned events with zero lead times and all unwarned events. Lead Time is calculated down to the minute for individual Tornado Warnings and tornadic events. Although the timing of the warning transmission is recorded to the nearest second, typically there is only an estimate to the nearest minute of when a tornado touches down. Additionally, even though we can compute the average tornado warning lead time to a precision of 30 second increments or less, the reporting of this value implies greater accuracy in the data based on scientific and logistical restrictions on tornado reporting and surveying. Most tornadoes cannot be visually tracked from beginning to end and post-storm damage surveying is the official method with which the NWS categorizes tornado characteristics (intensity, path length & width) but must rely on radar data to estimate the timing of the tornado track.

The Fish Stock Sustainability Index (FSSI) is comprised of 175 stocks (down from 199 beginning in FY 2020) selected for their economic, ecological, and social importance, that represent 83% of total catch. Each stock is given a score between 0 and 4 (0=status unknown; 4=meets all sustainable fishing criteria). The index (scored on a 1,000 point scale) increases when NMFS determines that a stock is either no longer subject to overfishing, no longer overfished, or its biomass has rebuilt or increased to at least 80 percent of target.