Hydrometeorological Prediction Center
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The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) is one of nine Service Centers under the umbrella of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), operating under the aegis of the National Weather Service, which in turn is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. government.
The HPC serves as a center of excellence in Quantitative Precipitation Forecasting, Medium Range Forecasting (three to seven days) and the interpretation of numerical weather prediction models.
The HPC issues storm summaries on storm systems bringing significant rainfall and snowfall to portions of the United States. Advisories are also issued for tropical cyclones which have moved inland and are no longer the responsibility of the National Hurricane Center. The HPC also acts as the backup office to the National Hurricane Center in the event of a complete communications failure.
The HPC was created in October 1995, when the former National Meteorological Center was reorganised into the NCEP. It is based at the World Weather Building in Camp Springs, Maryland, along with a few of the other National Centers such as the Climate Prediction Center (CPC), the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC), and the Environmental Modeling Center (EMC).
New Building
In April 2005, construction began on a new building to house the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC). The new building will replace the current World Weather Building, located in Camp Springs, Maryland. The new building will be in College Park, Maryland. It will be part of M-Square, a new crossroad where government, private industry, technology and science converge to be one of the nation's largest research parks. The new building will employ approximately 800 people. The new 250,000 sq. ft. facility will also be the headquarters for the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). In addition to NCEP's Office of the Director and the Hydrometeorlogical Prediction Center, four other national centers will be located at M-Square. They are the Climate Prediction Center (CPC), the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC), the Environmental Modeling Center (EMC), and NCEP Central Operations. The building is expected to open in late 2007. Rumor has it that the move-in date has been moved back to December of 2008.
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