New York City Emergency Management Selects DTN to Partner on Weather Response Preparedness

Sophisticated weather intelligence and storm advisory models will be used to assist New York City Emergency Management with advance planning and real-time management of severe weather events.

As extreme weather events increase, so does the risk to public safety and infrastructure. Recently, the New York City Emergency Management Department selected DTN, a data, analytics, and technology company, to provide additional forecast guidance for its severe weather response planning. Under the agreement, DTN will share real-time weather information on storm timing and conditions with NYC Emergency Management’s in-house meteorologist and other stakeholders of NYC Emergency Management’s weather response planning. In addition, DTN Risk Communicators will work side-by-side with NYC Emergency Management to aid the agency’s decision-making.

“It is critical for us to use all available resources to help keep the public safe during severe weather,” said NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol. “The ability for DTN to deliver future and real-time weather intelligence and insights on a hyperlocal level means that we can get a clearer understanding of the potential impact — down to a neighborhood level — and tailor our emergency services accordingly.”

New York City is one of the first cities to hire an organization to assist with weather response planning. Seeking additional weather support came from the NYC Emergency Management’s commitment to fulfilling the initiatives outlined in the City of New York’s “The New Normal: Combating Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City” report. As part of the new data-led hazardous precipitation triggers and actions outlined in the report, the advanced DTN data models and highly trained risk communicators will offer additional context to the National Weather Service forecasts and help build local forecasting down to the neighborhood level, creating an improved ability to alert city residents when potential triggers are reached.

The DTN Risk Communicators working with NYC Emergency Management are highly trained meteorologists with deep expertise in municipal operation and community impact. For the City of New York, they will model and analyze weather risks to the city in real-time, helping guide communications and response preparedness before and during a weather event, as well as delivering analysis during post-event planning sessions.

“In today’s rapidly changing climate, it is necessary to look beyond forecasting the weather to communicating the impact of weather,” said Renny Vandewege, Vice President of Weather Operations for DTN. “NYC Emergency Management understands the value that risk communicators bring to these weather events that evolve rapidly. Our data and experts can offer the kind of situational awareness that supports critical business decisions being made while conditions are changing. We look forward to helping support the safety and wellbeing of the citizens of NYC and its infrastructure.”

With more than 150 operational meteorologists and a global weather station network, DTN works with utilities and municipalities across the globe to monitor weather data, surface critical insights for weather response in real time and help organizations prepare for weather-related events. DTN also provides operational intelligence to agriculture, aviation, energy, shipping, offshore and other weather-sensitive industries.

More information on weather services from DTN can be found here. Learn more about DTN Risk Communicators here.