The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, known as NOAA, is a science agency within the Department of Commerce. Its work ranges from daily weather forecasts, warnings for severe storms, and climate monitoring to managing fisheries, restoring coastlines, and supporting commerce at sea.
The agency employs scientists who use research and technical instruments to produce information for the public, planners, emergency managers, and others who make decisions and need that information in time to act on it.
The National Weather Service is part of NOAA and has provided weather information for more than a century. It runs local offices throughout the country and in United States territories, backed by regional and national centers. Those offices supply the weather, water, climate, and environmental information that local, tribal, state, regional, and national authorities use to prepare for, limit the effects of, and respond to natural and human-caused events.