1948 MARCH 25: 1ST TORNADO FORECAST (FAWBUSH AND MILLER) AT TINKER AFB
1951 FAWBUSH AND MILLER ESTABLISHED SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER
(TINKER) FOR AIR FORCE FACILITIES IN 48 STATES
1952 MARCH: WBAN ANALYSIS CENTER SEVERE STORMS FORECAST UNIT
1952 MARCH 17: FIRST WATCH (THEN CALLED "FORECAST")
1952 MARCH 21: FIRST SUCCESSFUL WATCH (FORECAST)
1953 RENAMED "SELS" (SEVERE LOCAL STORMS) UNIT -- AROUND THE CLOCK
COVERAGE
1954 7 FORECASTERS, 6 CHARTISTS, 2 RESEARCH FORECASTERS
1954 AUGUST: SELS TRANSFERRED TO KANSAS CITY (911 WALNUT)
1955 FIRST CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
1955 NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS PROJECT (NSSP) ESTABLISHED
1956 SELS WORKSHOP FIRST HELD
1956 AIR FORCE UNIT MOVES TO KANSAS CITY, COLLOCATED WITH SELS AND
MKC WEATHER BUREAU OFFICE BUT WITH INDEPENDENT FORECASTS
1956 RADU (RADAR ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT UNIT) ESTABLISHED
1957 2 TYPES OF FORECASTS: AVIATION AND PUBLIC
1960 DON HOUSE NAMED MIC (METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE) OF THE WBO
(WEATHER BUREAU OFFICE)
1960 RADU BEGAN TRANSMITTING 3-HOURLY RADAR SUMMARY CHARTS ON FAX
1961 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK TRANSMITTED BY FAX
1963 SELS ISSUES FORECAST PORTION OF SD-1
1963 IBM 1620 COMPUTER INSTALLATION
1964 NSSP RENAMED NSSL (NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS LAB), MOVED TO NORMAN OK
1965 ALLEN PEARSON NAMED MIC
1965 IBM 1620 COMPUTER REPLACED BY CDC 3100
1966 RENAMED NSSFC AND MOVED TO 601 E. 12TH STREET, KANSAS CITY MO
1968 STATUS REPORTS FOR WATCHES
1970 SATELLITE METEOROLOGIST ASSIGNED TO NSSFC
1970 OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL COORDINATOR FOR METEOROLOGY (OFCM) ORDERS
AIR FORCE UNIT DISBANDED BECAUSE OF DUPLICATION WITH SELS;
AIR FORCE UNIT MOVES TO OFFUTT AFB INSTEAD
1970 15Z DAY-1 OUTLOOK
1971 KCRT -- FIRST COMPUTERIZED DATA TRANSMISSION -- TESTED AND INSTALLED
1972 NPSU (NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE UNIT) ESTABLISHED
1972 SFSS (SATELLITE FIELD SERVICES STATION) ESTABLISHED AT MKC
1973 AVIATION AND PUBLIC WATCHES COMBINED
1973 RWCC (REGIONAL WEATHER COORDINATION CENTER) ESTABLISHED
1975 RWCC CEASED OPERATIONS
1976 TDU (TECHNIQUES DEVELOPMENT UNIT) ESTABLISHED
1978 RADU CEASED OPERATIONS
1978 CONVECTIVE SIGMET UNIT ESTABLISHED
1978 AFOS (AUTOMATION OF FIELD OPERATIONS AND SERVICES) INSTALLED
1979 ALLEN PEARSON APPOINTED DIRECTOR, NWS CENTRAL REGION
1980 FRED OSTBY NAMED DIRECTOR
1982 APRIL 2: FIRST PDS (PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION) WATCH
1982 NAWAU (NATIONAL AVIATION WEATHER ADVISORY UNIT) ESTABLISHED
1982 CSIS (CENTRALIZED STORM INFORMATION SYSTEM) -- FIRST OPERATIONAL
McIDAS WORKSTATION -- INSTALLED
1983 NSSFC TRANSFERRED ORGANIZATIONALLY TO NMC (NATIONAL
METEOROLOGICAL CENTER, NOW NCEP)
1983 SFSS (SATELLITE FIELD SERVICES STATION) BECOMES PART OF NSSFC
1986 FIRST DAY-2 OUTLOOK
1986 FIRST MESOSCALE DISCUSSION
1988 CONVERTED SFSS POSITIONS TO MESOSCALE METEOROLOGISTS
1988 LIGHTNING DATA AVAILABLE ON TEST BASIS
1991 VDUC (VAS DATA UTILIZATION CENTER) -- AN ENHANCED McIDAS
WORKSTATION -- INSTALLED TO REPLACE CSIS
1994 NPSU CEASED OPERATIONS
1994 INITIAL PARTICIPATION IN "VORTEX" PROJECT
1994 FIRST NSSFC INTERNET ACCESS
1995 FIRST 2Z (EVENING) DAY-1 OUTLOOK, LATER MOVED TO 1Z
1995 NSSFC WORLD WIDE WEB PAGES ESTABLISHED, BECOME AWC & SPC HOME PAGES
1995 SELS BECOMES SPC, NAWAU BECOMES AWC (AVIATION WEATHER CENTER)
1995 JOE SCHAEFER NAMED SPC DIRECTOR
1996 1-YEAR HAZARDOUS WEATHER UPDATE TEST BEGUN
1996 N-AWIPS (NATIONAL CENTER AWIPS) IN SPC-NORMAN
1997 SPC COMPLETES MOVE TO NORMAN OK (FIRST FLOOR, NSSL BUILDING)
1997 WINTER WEATHER PROGRAM WITH MESOSCALE ASSISTANT FORECASTERS
1998 NATIONAL FIRE WEATHER FORECAST BEGUN
1998 OCT 4: MOORE OK NIGHT TORNADO (F2) VISIBLE FROM FACILITY
1999 AWIPS WORKSTATIONS INSTALLED
1999 EXPERIMENTAL PROBABILISTIC OUTLOOKS
1999 MAY 3: MOORE OK TORNADO (F5) VISIBLE FROM FACILITY
2000 EXPERIMENTAL DAY-3 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
2001 PROBABILISTIC DAY-1 THRU DAY-3 OUTLOOKS OPERATIONAL
2002 PARTICIPATION IN "IHOP" PROJECT
2003 PARTICIPATION IN "BAMEX" PROJECT
2003 ENHANCED GENERAL THUNDER FORECAST EXPERIMENT
2003 FORECAST PRODUCTION MOVED FROM PC-OS/2 TO LINUX, WEB-BASED
2005 EXPERIMENTAL DAY 4-8 SEVERE OUTLOOK
2005 PUBLIC OUTLOOKS FOR SOME MDT RISKS
2006 EXPERIMENTAL DAY 4-8 FIRE OUTLOOK
2006 OPERATIONAL SEVERE PROBABILTIES FOR WATCHES
2006 SHORT-RANGE ENSEMBLE FORECAST (SREF) OUTPUT ONLINE
2006 EXPERIMENTAL 2-PERIOD THUNDER PROBABILITIES
2006 SPC MOVES TO NATIONAL WEATHER CENTER FACILITY IN NORMAN
2007 DAY 4-8 SEVERE OUTLOOK OPERATIONAL
2007 DAY 3-8 FIRE OUTLOOK OPERATIONAL
2009 GRIDDED OUTLOOKS FOR NDFD
2009 JUN 12: EAST NORMAN NIGHT TORNADO (EF1) VISIBLE FROM FACILITY
2009 JOE SCHAEFER RETIRES AS DIRECTOR
2010 MAY 10: NORMAN-LITTLE AXE (EVENTUAL EF4) TORNADO VISIBLE FROM FACILITY
2010 RUSSELL SCHNEIDER NAMED SPC DIRECTOR
2011 MAY 24: SMALL DEBRIS FROM GOLDSBY TORNADO (EF4) FALLS OVER FACILITY
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Steve Corfidi, Steve Weiss and Allen Pearson for their insights and clarifications on items in this timeline.
Commemorate the golden anniversary of tornado forecasting