2020 Weather Ready Nation Amabassador of Excellence: White Squirrel Weather

Congratulations to the 2020 WRN Ambassador of Excellence: White Squirrel Weather

For the fourth year, NOAA and NWS Louisville are proud to recognize our “Ambassador of Excellence” -- a select WRN Ambassador organization that has made significant contributions to building a Weather-Ready Nation. By serving as change agents and leaders in their communities, Ambassadors of Excellence have:

Inspired others to take action and become ready, responsive, and resilient
Created innovative ways to engage their community, their workforce, and/or their social network
Formed unique collaborations with NOAA and/or other ambassador organizations to achieve goals they alone could not meet
Embraced building “a Weather-Ready Nation for All” by addressing vulnerable populations’ needs

If you want to check out other Weather Ready Nation Ambassadors from across the country, click here

If you want to learn more about your organization becoming a Weather Ready Nation Ambassador, click here

White Squirrel Weather is an exemplary WRN Ambassador for a multitude of reasons. Their robust and innovative weather monitoring, prediction, and alert notification operations for the Western Kentucky University (WKU) campus and community of Bowling Green, KY help the NWS message safety during all types of hazardous weather. In addition, these students are involved in emergency response action plans, decision-support, and outreach in conjunction with numerous private, campus, state, and federal partners. Thanks in large part to White Squirrel Weather, the WKU campus is certified Storm Ready and has been accredited by the National Safety Council as a Safe Community, only the fourth university to do so. White Squirrel Weather provides a public webcam for the Bowling Green area, sends storm reports, and partnered with the NWS & Emergency Management to put on the 2019 KenTenn Conference. The share weather briefing slides and hyperlocal forecast content with campus decision makers during hazardous weather, and also have a mobile outreach lab used for teaching weather safety and preparedness. White Squirrel Weather is also playing a key role in the new Disaster Science Operations Center (DSOC) that will be housed at WKU, and will provide real-time situation awareness of all hazards through weather monitoring and forecasting. Students in the WKU meteorology program will continue to be engaged and trained in robust, innovative ways that will prepare them for all sectors of meteorology and emergency management. These initiatives are under the direction of a WKU University Meteorologist.

Congratulations to Dr. Josh Durkee and the entire White Squirrel Weather Organization!