NOAA's National Weather Service declares Coors Field StormReady®

Fans of Colorado Rockies baseball can feel safer when severe thunderstorms threaten Coors Field now that the park has earned designation as a National Weather Service StormReady® Supporter. Coors Field is the 4th major league baseball park to earn StormReady distinction.

To become StormReady, Rockies officials worked with local emergency management and NOAA's National Weather Service to adopt a rigorous set of detection and warning criteria to provide protection from severe weather. Warning coordination meteorologist Robert Glancy will present a StormReady plaque and certificates to the Rockies at the April 13 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"The StormReady plan is designed to help communities enhance communication and safety skills needed to save lives - before, during and after a severe weather event," said Nezette Rydell, meteorologist in charge of NOAA's Boulder National Weather Service office. "The procedures Rockies officials implemented to become StormReady will help protect fans, players and staff from threatening weather."

The nationwide community preparedness plan uses a grassroots approach to help communities and organizations develop projects to handle local severe weather and flooding threats. The plan is voluntary and provides clear-cut advice from a partnership between local National Weather Service forecast offices, state and local emergency managers and individual organizations. StormReady started in 1999 with 7 communities in the Tulsa, Okla. area. There are now nearly 1,900 StormReady sites across the country. StormReady baseball fields include the Minnesota Twins' Target Field, the Cincinnati Reds' Great American Ballpark and the Saint Louis Cardinals' Busch Stadium.

To be acknowledged as StormReady, a community or organization must:

• Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center;
• Have in excess of one way to gain severe weather forecasts and warnings and to alert the public;
• Create a system that monitors local weather conditions;
• Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars;
• Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.

"The mission of NOAA's National Weather Service is to reduce the loss of life and property from storms, and StormReady has helped to create better prepared communities across the country," Rydell said. "Just like communities and ballparks, families need to be storm ready by having an emergency project before severe weather strikes."

NOAA's National Weather Service is the primary source of weather data, forecasts and warnings for the U.S. and its territories. NOAA's National Weather Service operates the most advanced weather and flood warning and forecast system in the world, helping to protect lives and property and enhance the national economy. Working with partners, NOAA's National Weather Service is building a Weather-Ready Nation to support community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather. Visit us online at weather.gov and on Facebook.

NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels.

StormReady® is a registered trademark used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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