2.1 QPE IN NWS HYDROLOGIC APPLICATIONS: PRESENT AND FUTURE Geoffrey M. Bonnin*, David Kitzmiller, Dongjun Seo, Michael Smith, Pedro Restrepo Office of Hydrologic Development, National Weather Service, NOAA, Silver Spring, Maryland 1. INTRODUCTION On average, flooding kills more than 100 people a year in the U.S., more than any other single weather hazard, including tornadoes and hurricanes. The average flooding toll has increased in recent decades while deaths from tornadoes and hurricanes have dropped. Almost half of all flash-flood deaths are connected to stream crossings or highway travel. In many years, it is common for three-quarters of all U.S. disaster declarations to be due, at least in part, to flooding. The inclusion of quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) and hydrological applications as a theme for the 33rd Conference on Radar Meteorology provides us an opportunity to advance QPE research and applications for hydrologic forecasting. 2. NWS OPERATIONS The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) is the Federal agency charged with providing flood and stream flow forecasts to the American public. With increased emphasis on drought and water resources, our role is expanding. We are leveraging our hydrologic and meteorological modeling capabilities, our data, our operational infrastructure, and our partnerships to provide additional information such as debris flow warnings, soil moisture forecasts, coastal and estuary inundation forecasts, and inflows to coastal ecosystems and fisheries. NWS is a line office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which in turn is part of the U.S Department of Commerce. NOAA itself consists of many elements including the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). NWS and OAR work together to advance the sciences that contribute to NWS products and services. In particular, the NWS Office of Hydrologic Development (OHD) and OAR’s National Severe Storm Laboratory (NSSL) collaborate on the development of radar-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE). As shown in Figure 1, NWS products and services are generally delivered through 124 Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) located strategically across the country (Figure 2). Thirteen River Forecast Centers (RFCs) responsible for different river basins provide hydrologic “guidance” and some meteorological guidance related to hydrologic models to the WFOs while meteorological guidance is provided by the National Centers for * Corresponding author address: Geoff Bonnin, W/OHD, NWS Office of Hydrologic Development, 1325 East West Hwy, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA; e-mail: Geoffrey.Bonnin@noaa.gov Figure 1. WFOs provide information to the public using guidance provided by RFCs and NCEP Figure 2. WFO and RFC areas of responsibility River Forecast Centers National Centers for Environmental Prediction Weather Forecast Offices Guidance Forecasts