Hurricane forecasting has been the hot topic the past few months. After Rita, many people are interested in learning more about hurricanes. The National Weather Service has talked at government-sponsored workshops or conferences in St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, Beauregard, Acadia, Evangeline, Cameron, Vermilion and Iberia Parishes, as well as Jasper and Jefferson Counties. If you are interested in learning more about hurricanes, we can come to your business, civic group, or church. To schedule your talk, call or email Roger Erickson at 337-477-5285 or roger.erickson@noaa.gov. 

We also teach meteorology at schools and libraries! Since January, we have talked to hundreds of kids in Calcasieu, Cameron, Evangeline, Rapides and Jeff Davis Parishes. We bring a weather balloon, the “Teaching Tornado” machine, and posters to help explain how the weather impacts our life. For more information on this exciting program, contact Roger at the phone number or email listed above.

A need for an additional Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) was requested by the Acadiana Regional Airport (New Iberia) manager, as well as the local corporate industry. The airport continues to grow with increased demand for 24- hour forecasts. The process for TAF service has been routed to Southern Regional Headquarters where a 150-day review and notification period ensues. TAF service should begin at Acadiana Regional Airport (KARA) in December of 2006.

The Science and Operations Officer attended a SOO conference in mid-July to discuss the operational need for local modeling and improved data sets to better analyze local weather conditions. We expect to begin a local modeling program in Lake Charles this summer which should improve our mesoscale forecasting. In addition, the SOO and Service Hydrologist will be developing a heavy rain study case that will be used for local and national training.