Contact: Bob Chartuk FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(516) 244-0166 6/28/95
When a half million people from all over the globe travel to Connecticut this summer for the International Special Olympics World Games, the National Weather Service will be using the latest technological advancements in meteorology to provide severe weather warnings and forecasts for the event.
Part of a cooperative effort with the UNYSIS Corporation, which is making available specialized weather display equipment, the weather service will provide "real time" forecast services to help ensure the safety of Special Olympics contestants and spectators.
"Weather service personnel will staff a crisis management room in New Haven 16 hours each day to issue weather forecast products tailored to meet the needs of the Special Olympics," said Gary Conte, NWS warning coordination meteorologist. "Job one will be to provide enough lead time to safely move people from the Yale Bowl and other event venues if severe weather threatens."
Working side by side with the weather service and event managers will be the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Connecticut State Police. Mel Goldstein, director of meteorology at Western Connecticut State University, will also be on hand to help develop storm warnings and forecasts.
The equipment provided by UNISYS will display information from a network of state-of-the-art Doppler weather radars, recently-launched weather satellites, and other modernized data collection systems built as part of the weather service's nationwide modernization and restructuring program. The former Unisys division in Great Neck, N.Y., recently aquired by the Loral Corporation, was also the developer and producer of the Doppler radar system.
Conte said that the new weather radars, located at Taunton, Mass., and Long Island, N.Y., will enable weather personnel to pinpoint the size, speed and direction of movement of approaching storms. The satellite information will provide a perspective from outer space.
"With this very detailed information at our finger tips, we will generate timely and accurate warnings and forecasts and pass them on to Special Olympics organizers and emergency management officials," Conte said.
The Ninth World Games will be the largest sports event held in the world this year and will showcase the talent of 7,100 disabled athletes from more than 140 countries. The games are scheduled for July 1 to July 9 at locations throughout southern Connecticut, with a concentration in the greater New Haven area.