NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries today launched a new website highlighting the 150-year history of the USS Monitor on the anniversary of the ship’s launch.

On January 27, the City of Los Angeles will be recognized by NOAA’s National Weather Service as StormReady and the largest city in the nation to become TsunamiReady.

Last week we were informed of the passing of former NOAA Administrator (1985-87) and physicist Dr. Anthony - Tony - Calio. Known for his strong leadership, Dr. Calio advanced the effort to modernize NOAA’s National Weather Service, which included the development of NEXRAD radar - a major advancement for its time - as well as AWIPS 90, the first program of its kind to bring operational satellite data to the forecasting community.

NOAA today announced it has begun to use an improved method to estimate the amount of fish caught by saltwater anglers, which will allow rules that fishermen follow to be based on more accurate information.

Remarks delivered by NOAA Administrator at the American Meteorological Society annual meeting

In 2011, NOAA satellites were critical in the rescues of 207 people from life-threatening situations throughout the United States and its surrounding waters.

Isaac Held, Ph.D., a senior research scientist with the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., will receive the prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for his contributions to improved understanding of climate change and atmospheric circulation systems.

The National Weather Service’s New Orleans/Baton Rouge office today increased its rapid response ability with the launch of a new 24/7 emergency response desk and team of meteorologists and hydrologists who will provide forecasts, warnings, and timely decision support services during high-impact weather and other disasters. A critical part of NOAA’s Weather-Ready Nation initiative, these emergency mobile weather and water forecasters are trained to work alongside emergency managers to enhance preparedness efforts in the central Gulf coast region.

NOAA announced today the designation of additional critical habitat to provide protection for endangered leatherback sea turtles along the U.S. West Coast. NOAA is designating 41,914 square miles of marine habitat in the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington.