New National Weather Center

Something new in Dan's life. Last week (? or the week before?) his entire office moved into a brand-new, rather spiffy-looking building on the other side of Norman. And yesterday he sent me a whole lotta photos he's taken of it, both inside & outside.

Naturally, there's a website (still somewhat under construction) for the place: National Weather Center. And they've also got a couple webcams on nearby buildings that are trained on the place, so you can watch the comings & goings whenever you please. I spent a fascinating half-hour or so last week watching people park their cars in the parking lot in the morning. Which wasn't as uneventful as you might think — among them was a cop who, according to Dan, probably came to investigate some recent laptop thefts! (Wow! They just changed the angle & zoom setting on one of the webcams, so now you get a real good close-up of the place!)

Photos, from left: 1) From the southwest, with a perfect sky for a weather center (love those clouds!); 2) from the northeast, taken from the far side of the parking lot; 3) facing north (taken from Dan's window?), showing part of the entrance & main parking lot...the building in the background is the Stephenson Research & Technology Center; 4) from the northeast, this close-up focuses on the third floor where Dan's new office is.

Anyway, the National Weather Center is a work in progress — they're still finishing off the interior of the building & not all the inhabitants have moved in yet, so there's a lot of mess, a lot of commotion. Dan's phone & work computer aren't even hooked-up yet, but he's making do. And even though it's a bit longer commute for him, I think he's excited to be there & generally pleased with the new digs.

Dan took all these pictures (see more below) with his little Kodak DX4330 digital camera (I just did a little Photoshop sharpening & leveling, & sized 'em for this site). My favorite might be the one with all the clouds, so perfect for a photo of a weather center. But the ones giving a glimpse of Dan's interior work environment might be the most illuminating. And that exterior closeup zooms in on his floor & corner of the building.

[If you click on the photos, the full-size versions will pop open for you!]

Photo at right: The 3rd floor hall. Yes, they're in the midst of moving in. Much of the building's interior design & individual office spaces are still being put together, including computer setups, and many partners have yet to move in.

Anyway, according to the NWC website: "The National Weather Center is a unique confederation of federal, state, and University of Oklahoma organizations that work together in partnership to improve understanding of events occurring in Earth's atmosphere over a wide range of time and space scales. The NWC partners give equal attention to applying that understanding to the development of improved observation, analysis, assimilation, display, and prediction systems. Long recognized for its collective expertise in severe weather, the National Weather Center also has expertise in local and regional climate, numerical modeling, hydrology, and radar meteorology."

Photo, left: Dan's cubicle, east side; photo, right: Dan's cubicle, west side.

The NWC has been built on Oklahoma University's Research Campus in Norman, part of a complex of buildings which also includes the Stephenson Research & Technology Center and a commercial outfit, Weathernews Americas Inc. Besides Dan's Applications Branch of the Radar Operations Center, the NWC will house many partners, among them the National Severe Storms Laboratory, Storm Prediction Center, National Weather Service Forecast Office and the University's School of Metereology. Altogether a pretty impressive site!

If you want to see more photos, of the present nearly completed site as well as the under-construction site, you can go to the NWC photo gallery. There is one really stunning, not-to-be-missed shot of lightning over the center taken this past May.

For family & friends, here's Dan's new work address & soon-to-be phone number:
Dan Berkowitz, Hydrometeorologist
National Weather Service
Radar Operations Center
Applications Branch
120 David L. Boren Drive
Norman, OK 73072
405-325-2750