Assigned to WFO Houston/GalvestonMIC - Jeff EvansSRH - Melinda Bailey

Co-Located with Galveston County Emergency Management Office

2K Budget for Travel and Office supplies

PMO Vehicle, Cell Phone and Laptop computer provided by SRH

Assist in outreach programs and other office functions as directed by the MIC

PMO HOUSTONCHRIS FAKES

Retired LCDR USN 28 yearsPMO 12 years

FREEPORT

BEAUMONT

PORT ARTHUR

LAKE CHARLES

CORPUS CHRISTI

Corpus Christi 230 miLake Charles 145 miPort Orange 115 miPort Arthur 92 miBeaumont 89 miFreeport 49 mi

HOUSTON Area of Responsibility

PORT ORANGE

HOUSTON

HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL52 miles long2nd Busiest U.S. PortAverage 80 to 100 ships dailyOver 200 private facilities / docksPanamax Vessels Capable

GALVESTON

TEXAS CITY

CITY DOCKSBAYTOWN

Almost every type of vessel you can think of comes in and out of Houston

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 201325,000

26,000

27,000

28,000

29,000

30,000

31,000

32,000

33,000

26,056

28,433

29,71530,030

29,016

32,523

73

6460

62

69

HOUSTON OBSERVATION COUNTS

All Manual Reporters using Electronic Logbook (AMVERSEAS / TurboWin)

Number of new drill ships coming online 2014-15 (GOM - West Africa)

63

Houston is home to a number of large Shipping Companies. - Maintain close liaison - Provide annual Hurricane Briefing - NOAA/NWS related information

TransOcean Inc. Diamond Offshore American Eagle Tankers Pacific Drilling

InterMarine Inc. SeaDrill Inc.

To Mariners and Shipping Companies, the PMO is the face of NOAA. Field a lot of questions on Meteorology, Oceanography, Nautical Charts, Marine Life, and “Climate Change”

LECTURES / PRESENTATIONS

USCG Sector 8 / Houston Port Authority Annual Hurricane briefingNautical Institute (Gulf Coast Chapter)San Jacinto Junior College (Maritime Program)Council of American Master Mariners (SE Texas Chapter)Pilots Houston / Freeport / SabineYacht Clubs & Coastal CommunitiesGreater Houston Community Managers AssociationWrote Hurricane Preparedness for Recreational Boaters

Texas A&MMaritime College Galveston

3-4 Lectures per yearBasic Marine Meteorology / OceanographyTropical MeteorologyStorm EvasionNorth Wall EffectChart & Product InterpretationMarine Weather ObservationsNWS/NOAA Products and other services

Training Vessel T/V GENERAL RUDDER4 to 5 Training Cruises per year (GOM)Small shipLimited number of bunks and class room area Provide additional onboard training prior to cruise

CHALLENGES SECURITY Houston is home to the largest Petro/Chemical complex in the U.S. Some Facilities require 24 to 48 hrs visit notice. Visit requests are submitted by the Local Agent.

SAFETY 4 facilities require yearly safety training (1-3 hrs) for access. In the future might have to pay for this training. PMO job can be dangerous!

RECRUITMENT Now primarily accomplished thru Shipping Companies and Maritime Colleges. Maintaining a good relationship is a must.

KNOWLEGDE Trying to keep up with NWS/NOAA changes in products and services.

Parking in and around docks is always a challenge. Boxed in for 1½ hours in 930

Sometimes just getting onto a ship is challenging and dangerous.

OTHER UNIQUE CHALLENGES

FOCUS & GOALS

• TurboWin installation 18% complete. All Houston ships transitioned over by summer 2015.

• Recruit entire Pacific Drilling Fleet.

• Developing Houston Ship Channel Petro/Chem Information Book containing location, owner, dock length & height, special considerations.

PMO CONFERENCE OUTCOMEVOS PROGRAM

PROGRESS Establishing clear VOS Goals Short & Long Term

Establishing a VOS Equipment Life Cycle Support Plan

MOVEMENT Database Upgrades to make it a useful tool

Establishing VOS Awards Guidelines

COMMITMENT Improve communications and coordination between NDBC, Regions and PMOs

Promoting VOS within NWS and NOAA

Importance of Marine Weather Obs

A slide I like to show the Cadets at Texas A&M

JUST ONE MORE SLIDESlide #108