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.

An important purpose of national marine sanctuaries is to ensure that the significant resources they protect provide benefits to the public. This performance measure is intended to track the extent to which marine sanctuaries benefit the public through the provision of “resource services”. Resource services include commonly defined “ecosystem services” as well as the services provided by archaeological resources. The measure uses status ratings from sanctuary condition reports to quantify the proportion of services rated as either “Good” or “Good/Fair,” both of which are considered acceptable levels of service potential.

Metric calculated as the percent of Climate Prediction Center extended (outlooks out to 14 days) and long range (monthly and seasonal outlooks) temperature and precipitation outlooks exceeding Heidke Skill Score (HSS) of 10 (10% better than a climatological forecast). Due to the scarcity of long range outlooks (six per month), scores are smoothed over a three year period. To better track results, three individual metrics are tracked – 1) All forecasts combined, 2) Temperature only, and 3) Precipitation only.

The flash flood warning accuracy (probability of detection for storm-based warnings) represents the percentage, in both space and time, for which a flash flood event was warned. Historically, flash flood warnings were issued and verified on a countywide basis. Starting in FY 2010, the storm-based warnings were implemented with verification based solely for the areas impacted by the warning and event.

Volunteers are a critical part of national marine sanctuaries and help support science, education, and conservation priorities. Volunteers assist in many projects, such as citizen science, monitoring, education support, and marine debris cleanups. Volunteer hours can also be assigned a value through the widely used nonprofit organization, Independent Sector, which provides a yearly estimate of what a volunteer hour is worth. Using this number, each year ONMS calculates how much in-kind support our volunteers provide.

Cumulative number of R2X projects that include social science research and methods to address forecaster and end user needs to prepare for and respond to/ minimize societal impact for extreme weather events.

This measure tracks a range of contributions to address coastal community risk, vulnerability, and resilience to coastal hazards. It does this by using an index that incorporates a range of NOAA-sponsored activities, including training and technical assistance that communities have engaged in to mitigate their susceptibility to coastal hazards. This measure illuminates how NOAA is improving integration of its coastal programs and the Nation's capacity for end to end preparedness, response, recovery and resilience to hazards.

Metric calculated as the percent of Climate Prediction Center extended range temperature and precipitation outlooks (outlooks out to 14 days) exceeding Heidke Skill Score (HSS) of 10 (10% better than a climatological forecast). To better track results, three individual metrics are tracked – 1) All forecasts combined, 2) Temperature only, and 3) Precipitation only.

Ensures that NOAA safely archives critical data and information according to National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) standards.

Each site within the National Marine Sanctuary System conducts education through formal education, informal education, and outreach for education. Programming includes hands-on activities as well as distance learning. K-12 student participation is tracked in both formal and informal education programs by counting the number of students participating in these programs. Data is collected yearly from each site and headquarters and is summarized system wide. Using these methods we can track the number of K-12 students engaged in formal or informal education and stewardship programs.