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County emergency staff describe experimental NWS flood-prediction model and plans to layer results on GIS
Summary
Emergency-management staff told the public safety committee about a National Weather Service experimental flood-prediction tool and efforts to integrate rainfall forecasts into the county's GIS mapping to anticipate flooding impacts.
Emergency-management staff told the Bedford County Public Safety Committee that the National Weather Service (NWS) is testing an experimental Flood Prediction Center capability that can provide rainfall predictions and flood guidance to counties on request. Staff said the county is exploring how to integrate those model outputs with the county’s GIS mapping to visualize potential flood impacts.
An emergency-management representative said the NWS tool is currently in an experimental mode and is available on request for counties or when the service flags a potential danger. The representative described a planned demonstration and staff training with the NWS and said Bedford County’s GIS staff member, John Carney, has been working to overlay rainfall predictions on local GIS maps so officials can see projected effects across the county’s waterways and infrastructure.
“They can take those rainfall predictions and then they can lay it on the GIS mapping system, and we can see what it's gonna do to our county,” a county staff member said when describing the integration effort. Staff said the state may make access to similar model output free for GIS personnel in the future; at present the NWS service is described as experimental and provided upon request.
Staff also noted a short-term weather forecast for the county the night of the meeting: an expected 1 to 2 inches of snow, but they cautioned that forecasts can change.
Committee members were told the flood-prediction modeling and GIS integration are intended to provide earlier, more targeted information for emergency managers and floodplain staff, and that county staff will pursue a future demonstration with the NWS to learn more about the tool’s capabilities.
The committee recorded the briefing as part of its regular reports; the session’s written reports were approved later in the meeting (see "Votes at a glance").
