Flood and SCS Data Sites

Severe Convective Storms

  • Storm Prediction Center 
    http://www.spc.noaa.gov/
    The mission for NOAA's Storm Predication Center (SPC) is to provide timely and accurate forecasts and watches for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes over the contiguous United States. The SPC also monitors hazardous winter weather and fire weather events across the U.S. and issues specific products for those hazards. The SPC uses its suite of Outlooks, Watches, and Warnings to relay forecasts of organized severe weather as much as eight days ahead of time, and continually refines the forecast up until the event has concluded.
  • National Severe Storms Laboratory
    http://nssl.noaa.gov/
    NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) studies weather radar, tornadoes, flash floods, lightning, damaging winds, hail, and winter weather in an effort to improve warnings and forecasts and to save lives and reduce property damage.
  • Severe Weather Data Inventory
    https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/severe-weather
    NOAA's Severe Weather Data Inventory (SWDI) is an integrated database of severe weather records for the United States. SWDI provides the ability to search through all of these data to find records covering a particular time period and geographic region, and to download your results.
  • NEXRAD
    http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/radar-data/nexrad
    NEXRAD is a network of 160 high-resolution Doppler weather radars that detect atmospheric precipitation and winds, which allow scientists to track and anticipate weather events, such as rain, ice pellets, snow, hail, and tornadoes.
  • Local Climate Analysis Tool
    http://nws.weather.gov/lcat/
    The Local Climate Analysis Tool (LCAT) helps users identify and predict climate-related impacts on water and weather at a local level. LCAT offers data-driven answers to climate-related questions. The tool links local weather and water events to signals in the climate system, providing information about how climate variability and change contribute to local climate trends. This local-to-national perspective on climate can show the effect of climate variability and change on temperature and precipitation in recent decades, and how those trends may continue into the future.
  • Impact Based Warnings
    weather.gov/impacts
    The National Weather Service (NWS) has launched a demonstration project to explore the impact based convective warning experimental product to better communicate threats to partners and constituents. Due to positive feedback, the NWS has expanded the demonstration project to include 13 Southern Region Coastal Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) for a total of 80 WFOs participating nationwide beginning October 1, 2015. The goals in this process continue to focus on providing more information to media and EM partners, facilitating improved public response and decision making; and meeting societal needs in the most lifethreatening weather events.
  • The Storm Events Database
    ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/
    NOAA's Storm Events Database currently contains data from January 1950 to September 2015 regarding the records used to create the official NOAA Storm Data publication.

Water/Flooding

  • National Water Level Observation Network
    https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/nwlon.html 
    The NWLON is a coastal observing network of 175 stations nationwide, including the Great Lakes and Pacific as well as Atlantic Ocean Island Territories and Possessions that collects continuous long-term water level observations to a known vertical reference. NWLON data communications include near real-time routine automated acquisition and event-driven high rate acquisition over GOES satellites.
  • Inundation Analysis Tool
    tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/inundationdb/
    The inundation analysis program is extremely beneficial in determining the frequency (or the occurrence of high waters for different elevations above a specified threshold) 
  • Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer
    coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/slr
    Use this web mapping tool to visualize community-level impacts from coastal flooding or sea level rise (up to 6 feet above average high tides). Photo simulations of how future flooding might impact local landmarks are also provided, as well as data related to water depth, connectivity, flood frequency, socio-economic vulnerability, wetland loss and migration, and mapping confidence.
  • Mapping High and Low Lake Level Impacts
    coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/llv
    This web-based tool creates visuals that capture lake level changes that range from six feet above to six feet below historical long-term average water levels in the Great Lakes. Potential shoreline and coastal impacts are also provided. This information can be used to determine appropriate preparations, including zoning restrictions, infrastructure improvements, and habitat conservation.
  • Significant River Flood Outlook
    http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/nationalfloodoutlook/ 
     This Flood Outlook is intended to provide a general outlook for significant river flooding.
  • Assessing Coastal Community Exposure to Flood Hazards
    coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/flood-exposure
    This online visualization tool supports communities that are assessing their coastal hazard risks and vulnerabilities. The tool creates a collection of user-defined maps that show the people, places, and natural resources exposed to coastal flooding. The maps can be saved, downloaded, or shared to communicate flood exposure and potential impacts. In addition, the tool provides guidance for using these maps to engage community members and stakeholders. The current geography includes the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
  • Coastal County Snapshots - Flood Exposure
    coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/snapshots
    This online tool provides managers and citizens with easy-to-understand charts and graphs that describe complex coastal data. Users select a county of interest and the website does the rest, creating a helpful educational tool for governing bodies and citizen groups. Current snapshot topics include flood exposure, wetland benefits, and ocean and Great Lakes jobs.
  • Coastal Inundation Mapping - Training
    coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/training/inundationmap
    This course provides baseline information about the various types of flooding and teaches methods for mapping current flooding and potential coastal inundation scenarios using a GIS. Hands-on exercises will help participants understand and apply the spatial methods covered in this course. Students connect to Web map services, access elevation and water level data, convert between vertical datums, create and manage digital elevation models, map inundation model output, develop inundation zones, and map sea level rise using modeled tidal surfaces.
  • NOAA nowCOAST
    nowcoast.noaa.gov/
    nowCOAST is a GIS-based web mapping portal displaying near real-time observations, analyses, tide predictions, model guidance, watches/warnings, and forecasts for the coastal United States.
  • USGS Water Alert
    water.usgs.gov/wateralert/
    The U.S. Geological Survey WaterAlert service sends e-mail or text (SMS) messages when certain parameters, as measured by a USGS real-time data-collection station, exceed user-definable thresholds.
  • USGS Flood History
    http://water.usgs.gov/floods/history.html 
     This website allows users to click on an event name to access news, data, and resources for regional flood events that involved a national coordinated USGS response.
  • National Hydrologic Assessment
    http://www.nws.noaa.gov/hic/nho/ 
     The National Hydrologic Assessment is a report issued each spring by the NWS that provides an outlook on U.S. Spring flood potential, river ice jam flood potential, and water supply. Analysis of flood risk integrates late summer and fall precipitation, frost depth, soil saturation levels, stream flow levels, snowpack, temperatures and rate of snowmelt. A network of 122 weather forecast offices and 13 river forecast centers nationwide assess this risk, summarized here at the national scale. The National Hydrologic Assessment depicts flood risk on the scale of weeks to months over large areas, and is not intended to be used for any specific location. Moreover, this assessment displays river and overland flood threat on the scale of weeks or months. Flash flooding, which accounts for the majority of flood deaths, is a different phenomenon associated with weather patterns that are only predictable days in advance.
  • Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service
    water.weather.gov/ahps/ 
    AHPS provide forecasts of river levels and river flow volumes from an hour to a season for areas large and small, including river forecast information such as:
    • How high the river will rise;
    • When the river will reach its peak;
    • Where property will be flooded;
    • How long flooding will continue; and
    • How long a drought will last?
     
  • Precipitation Frequency Data Server (PFDS)
    hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/
    The Precipitation Frequency Data Server (PFDS) is a point-and-click interface developed to deliver NOAA Atlas 14 precipitation frequency estimates and associated information. Upon clicking a state on the map, an interactive map of that state will be displayed. From there, a user can identify a location for which precipitation frequency estimates are needed.
  • United States Interagency Elevation Inventory
    coast.noaa.gov/inventory
    This catalog of publicly available, high-accuracy elevation data for the United States and its territories is collaboratively maintained by six federal agencies. The inventory provides an important central location for information about elevation data sets and decreases duplicate data collection efforts.
    • Find topographic data, including lidar and IfSAR, and bathymetric data, including NOAA hydrographic surveys, multibeam data, and lidar.
    • View details about data sets, including vertical accuracy, point spacing, and data access information.
    • Investigate available data for an area of interest and share a link.
     
  • 3D Elevation Program
    nationalmap.gov/3DEP/
    The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) initiative is being developed to respond to growing needs for high-quality topographic data and for a wide range of other three-dimensional representations of the Nation's natural and constructed features. The primary goal of 3DEP is to systematically collect enhanced elevation data in the form of high-quality light detection and ranging (lidar) data over the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories, with data acquired over an 8-year period.
  • Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping
    iocm.noaa.gov/
    Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping is defined as the practice of planning, acquiring, integrating, and disseminating ocean and coastal geospatial data and derivative products in a manner that permits easy access to and use by the greatest range of users.
  • Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Discovery Portal
    ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/dem/demportal.html
    This "DEM Discovery Portal" uses an ArcGIS map interface to locate, preview, and link to DEM web pages for download. DEMs may be bathymetric, topographic, or a merged combination of both. They also range from high-resolution coastal DEMs for local studies to coarser DEMs with global coverage. DEM usage ranges from ecologists mapping fish habitat to hurricane modelers estimating coastal storm-surge inundation.
  • Electronic Navigational Charts
    encdirect.noaa.gov/
    ENC Direct to GIS allows users to display, query, and download all available base editions of NOAA ENC® data in a variety of GIS/CAD formats, using Internet mapping service technology. Nautical chart features contained within a NOAA ENC provide a detailed representation of the U.S. coastal and marine environment. The data, updated weekly, is organized using S-57 object classes.
  • NOAA Shoreline Data
    ngs.noaa.gov/NSDE/
    The NOAA Shoreline Data Explorer provides high-resolution digital shoreline from multi-temporal surveys of our nation's coastline. It provides the following capabilities:
    • View available shoreline project boundaries
    • View vector shoreline data
    • View and download FGDC compliant metadata
    • Make printable maps
    • Download vector shoreline shapefiles
     
  • Technical Mapping Advisory Council
    fema.gov/technical-mapping-advisory-council
    The Technical Mapping Advisory Council (TMAC) is a federal advisory committee established to review and make recommendations to FEMA on matters related to the national flood mapping program authorized under the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.
  • The National Flood Insurance Program
    fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program
    This page provides an overview of the National Flood Insurance Program and shares additional information and links for property owners, claims adjusters, insurance professionals, lenders, surveyors and elected officials.
  • National Flood Insurance Program: Flood Hazard Mapping
    fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program-flood-hazard-mapping
    Through FEMA's flood hazard mapping program, Risk Mapping, Assessment and Planning (MAP), FEMA identifies flood hazards, assesses flood risks and partners with states and communities to provide accurate flood hazard and risk data to guide them to mitigation actions.
  • FEMA Flood Mapping Products:
    fema.gov/flood-mapping-products
    This page provides an overview of the Flood Map Service Center, points to some of the flood mapping products, and provides a link to the full list of mapping products.
  • FEMA Flood Map Service Center:
    msc.fema.gov/portal
    The FEMA Flood Map Service Center (MSC) is the official public source for flood hazard information produced in support of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Use the MSC to find your official flood map, access a range of other flood hazard products, and take advantage of tools for better understanding flood risk.
  • FEMA High Water Mark Initiative:
    fema.gov/high-water-mark-initiative
    The High Water Mark (HWM) Initiative is a community-based awareness program that increases local communities' awareness of flood risk and encourages action to mitigate that risk.
  • FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance:
    fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-assistance
    This page provides general information on hazard mitigation and the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs.
  • FEMA Climate Resilient Mitigation Activities:
    fema.gov/climate-resilient-mitigation-activities-hazard-mitigation-assistance
    This page provides information on Climate Resilient Mitigation Activities as related to the Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs.

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