Editor’s Note: Six oral history interviews were conducted with Louis W. Uccellini, Ph.D., Director of the National Weather Service, between June and October 2021. Dr. Uccellini retired from Federal service on January 2, 2022. This second interview  was conducted remotely on July 9, 2021 by Greg Romano and Mary Fairbanks on behalf of the NWS Heritage Program. 

After spending more than 10 years at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Louis Uccellini followed his passion for forecasting and meteorology to the National Weather Service Meteorological Operations Division (MOD) in 1989. While he was intrigued by the exciting aspects of the Modernization and Associated Restructuring (MAR) the agency was undergoing, there was a deeper force that kept him at the National Weather Service (NWS) long after the MAR was completed – the agency’s mission. 

Dr. Uccellini began guiding MOD through the process of implementing groundbreaking technological advancements, particularly new computing technology. Change wasn’t the only thing that was brewing, however. In March of 1993, NWS forecasting models began picking up on what would later be called “The Storm of the Century.” This thoroughly unprecedented snow storm pounded the eastern United States with shockingly high snowfall totals, extreme coastal winds and flooding, and unseasonable cold snaps. Despite the damage caused, this storm marked the first time all components of the newly modernized NWS came together to usher in a new era, one where numerical prediction models provided strong forecasts. Dr. Uccellini said it was “a defining moment in our ability to predict these types of extreme events further out in time and do it in a way that people pay attention to it.”

Just one year later, Dr. Uccellini stepped into the role of Director of the National Weather Service’s Office of Meteorology, thereby immersing himself even more fully in the ongoing modernization efforts. Over the course of the next several years, he would work alongside NWS Director Dr. Elbert “Joe” Friday as he went through the process of “selling” the modernization. 

Here are excerpts from the interview recorded in July of 2021:

On the importance of the National Weather Service Mission:

“...we're doing something that we believe in….If you're going into an organization, understand their mission because that's -- that's what's going to keep you there, when all is said and done.” 

On the impact of the March 1993 “Storm of the Century”:

“The blizzard itself and its track up the East Coast ... got a lot of people's attention. [It] brought attention to the forecast process. The ability of numerical models to do this was really demonstrated to the American people.” 

On working with Joe Friday to navigate the Modernization:

“Being able to navigate that was an eye-opening experience for me. It was absolutely amazing that we got to the finish line.”

Resources and Additional Reading

Full transcripts and audio recordings available here: https://voices.nmfs.noaa.gov/louis-w-uccellini