National Weather Center

National Weather Center
The National Weather Center building in 2006
The National Weather Center's location in Oklahoma
General information
Status	Completed
Address	120 David L. Boren Boulevard
Town or city	Norman, Oklahoma
Country	United States
Coordinates	35°10′53″N 97°26′25″W / 35.18139°N 97.44028°W / 35.18139; -97.44028
Current tenants	NOAA University of Oklahoma State of Oklahoma and others
Groundbreaking	November 2002
Construction started	August 2003
Opened	Summer 2006
Cost	US$500 million
Client	NOAA University of Oklahoma
Technical details
Floor count	5
Floor area	250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2)
Lifts/elevators	3
Grounds	22 acres
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Beck – LAN/Daly
Main contractor	Oscar J. Boldt Company
Website
nwc.ou.edu
References
[1]

The National Weather Center (NWC), on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, is a confederation of federal, state, and academic organizations that work together to better understand events that take place in Earth's atmosphere over a wide range of time and space scales.^[1] The NWC partners give equal attention to applying that understanding to the development of improved observation, analysis, assimilation, display, and prediction systems. The National Weather Center also has expertise in local and regional climate, numerical modeling, hydrology, and weather radar. Members of the NWC work with a wide range of federal, state, and local government agencies to help reduce loss of life and property to hazardous weather, ensure wise use of water resources, and enhance agricultural production. They also work with private sector partners to develop new applications of weather and regional climate information that provide competitive advantage in the marketplace.

The National Weather Center building houses many organizations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Oklahoma and several other organizations outside the NOAA or OU.^[2]

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

• Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)

• National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

• National Weather Service (NWS)

• Norman Weather Forecast Office (OUN WFO)
• Storm Prediction Center (SPC)
• Radar Operations Center (ROC)
• Warning Decision Training Division (WDTD)

• National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)

• Storm Prediction Center (SPC)

• University of Oklahoma (OU)

• College of Atmospheric & Geographic Sciences (A&GS)

• School of Meteorology (SoM)

• Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC)
• Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms (CAPS)
• Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS)

• Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability (GEOG)

• Environmental Verification and Analysis Center/Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative (EVAC/OWPI)

• College of Engineering (CoE)

• School of Computer Science (CS)
• School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

• Information Technology

• Integrated Robust Assured Data Services (IRADS)

• State of Oklahoma

• Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OCS)
• Oklahoma Mesonet
• Oklahoma Water Survey (OKWS)

• Other (public and private)

• Office of Weather Programs and Projects (OWPP)
• Oklahoma NASA Space Grant Consortium (OSGC)
• Sasaki Applied Meteorology Research Institute
• South Central Climate Science Center (SCCSC)
• United States Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers (South Central Region)

On the afternoon of April 23, 2015, a car rammed through the gates that protect the loading dock on the building's east side. It drove toward the building before it burst into flames approximately halfway between the gates and the building. Firefighters and a bomb squad were called to the scene. Responders extinguished the fire with no damage done to the building.^[3] Despite a rescue attempt, the driver, Allen Rouse, was found dead on the scene. Rouse, suffering from schizophrenia and paranoia, had killed himself.^[4]

• National Weather Center
• Advanced Radar Research Center
• Center for Spatial Analysis
• OU College of Atmospheric & Geographic Sciences
  • OU School of Meteorology
  • Oklahoma Weather Lab (OWL) Weather Products
  • Oklahoma Weather Lab (OWL) Forecast Products
  • OU Department of Geography
• Oklahoma Mesonet
• Environmental Verification and Analysis Center
• Natural Hazards and Disaster Research
• Integrated Radar Data Services
• Oklahoma City/Norman National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
• Oklahoma Climatological Survey
• OU Supercomputing Center for Education & Research
• Radar Operations Center
• Warning Decision Training Branch
• Sasaki Institute