National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Storm Impacting the Northwest U.S.; Fire Weather Conditions in Southern California; Severe Weather in the South

A Pacific storm is bringing areas of low elevation rain, moderate to heavy mountain snow, and high winds to the Northwest. Strong Santa Ana winds and very dry conditions are producing elevated to critical fire weather conditions in southern California. Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible through early Wednesday morning across parts of northeast Texas into western Tennessee. Read More >

 
Introduction
   
History
   
Operations
   
Radar
   
Upper Air
   
Observations
    NOAA
Weather Radio
   
Staff Listing
 

Office Tour
Introduction
 
A picture of our building.


    The National Weather Service is an agency of the United States government and a line office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which operates under the Department of Commerce. The Tampa Bay Area office is one of 122 NWS offices around the country. There are 3 additional offices in Guam, Puerto Rico, and America Samoa. The 125 total offices are grouped into 1 of 6 regions: Southern, Eastern, Central, Western, Alaska, or Pacific.

    The mission of the National Weather Service is to protect life and property and enhance the national economy. All of the products that we issue are used by other governmental agencies, the private sector, the general public, and the global community.

    Our NWS office consists of the main operations building, a WSR-88D radar, an upper air inflation shelter, and a small maintenance building. NWS offices are open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Our staff consists of 25 total employees, 16 of which are meteorologists. The Tampa Bay Area office covers 15 counties across West Central and Southwest Florida, from Levy County to Lee County and east to Polk and Highlands Counties. The Tampa office also forecasts for the coastal waters adjacent to the coast up to 60 nautical miles from shore.