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 34 percent of the way there with 1,092 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).

Temperature outlooks are used by sectors of the U.S. economy, such as energy, agriculture, transportation, etc. as one factor in resource decision making. Temperature outlooks are reported as the probability of temperature being above normal or below normal or, where no definite guidance can be provided, equal chances. This is the cumulative skill calculated for regions where predictions are made.

This measure tracks the number of protected species stocks for which adequate assessments are available. Assessments are vital to determine the scientific basis for supporting and evaluating the impact of management actions. To be deemed adequate, assessments must be based on recent quantitative or qualitative analysis sufficient to determine current stock status based on a variety of data category levels (e.g., life history, threats, stock structure, assessment quality, assessment frequency, and abundance), and conservation status. Stock status projections are highly dependent on survey frequencies, assessment time frames, and fiscal constraints. This measure covers the protected species stocks covered by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) or listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The number of such stocks continues to increase as new species are listed and as new stocks of listed species and marine mammals are identified— the latter typically indicates increased knowledge about population stock structure.

Seaports with access to Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systems (PORTS®) data move vessels and their cargo more safely and efficiently, and this measure tracks the number of top U.S. seaports that have access to PORTS® data. To create a list of the Nation’s top 175 seaports, NOS selected the top 152 ports by international tonnage, accounting for more than 99.9% of all direct imports and exports by tonnage in 2016. NOS added to this list 23 seaports that are critical to coastal military installations, the Nation’s energy supply, or commercial marine fisheries landings.

A winter storm warning provides NOAA customers and partners advanced notice of a hazardous winter weather event that endangers life or property or provides an impediment to commerce. Winter storm warnings are issued for winter weather phenomena like blizzards, ice storms, heavy sleet, and heavy snow. This performance indicator measures the accuracy of winter storm events. Improving the accuracy and advance warnings of winter storms enables the public to take the necessary steps to prepare for disruptive winter weather conditions.

Seasonal outlooks are reported as the probability of temperature being above normal, near normal, below normal or, where no definite seasonal guidance can be provided, equal chances. The seasonal outlooks are the cumulative skill calculated for regions where predictions are made. These forecasts are verified using a 48-month running mean of Heidke Skill score computed for seasonal outlooks for each 3-month seasonal mean (e.g., January-February-March mean; February-March-April mean; March-April-May mean; and so on). The previous dataset used to verify the CPC seasonal temperature outlook has developed a cold bias across a large portion of the western United States during the past 5-10 years. CPC has developed a new dataset which consists of Synoptic and Metar stations only, which is consistent throughout the historical and real time periods. This change will not impact the measure itself, nor how it is reported, but will remove biases identified in the old verification dataset, resulting in a more accurate performance indicator.

This measure tracks the percentage of fish stocks that are below their annual catch limit (ACL) in a given year. In 2007, Congress enacted a requirement to use ACLs to end and prevent overfishing. The use of ACLs has been successful in ending and preventing overfishing, as stock assessments have shown the number of stocks subject to overfishing continuing to decline. Performance is measured by comparing the final annual catch estimate to the ACL for each stock that has an ACL. If the final annual catch estimate for the stock is less than the ACL, NOAA will report that the stock did not exceed its ACL.

NOAA is consolidating activities for the NAVSTA Newport, RI location. Currently NOAA has two ships homeported at NAVSTA, the Henry B. Bigelow and Okeanos Explorer. In order to remain in compliance with the CENOTE Act, NOAA is required to co-locate with the Navy whenever possible to increase technological sharing capabilities. This consolidation aligns with NOAA's regional facilities plans. The OMAO consolidation has milestones to complete design (FY22), and then FY23 issuance of an RFP and award of the contract.

Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) audits select a random sample of consignments to a target statistical validity. Each consignment is audited for completeness and verified accuracy of documentation. Once this evaluation is complete, any concern with the consignment is forwarded to the Office of Law Enforcement for further investigation. This measure shows the percentage of audited consignments with documentation that is sufficiently complete and verified accurate to not warrant further investigation.

This measure tracks the progress of ongoing or completed recovery actions included in NMFS approved recovery plans for species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Recovery plans include a list of actions necessary to de-list the species. These include actions that may be completed in a year or that may take many years to complete or are ongoing. Recovery of a species may take decades. Completed recovery actions shows incremental progress.