National Weather Center

My girlfriend made reservations for us here. We were almost late since we went to the radar station nearby. Anyways, I felt this was more fluff than actual tech information. Well, the tour guide gave a decent tour. A lot of it was focusing on the movie Twister which was based on OU graduate student work with faculty. But, it was nice to see Toto and Dorothy on the ground floor. Could have been better but worth to see anyways to learn about this new place.

Being a weather nut, I had been wanting to visit NWC for quite some time, and I finally did. Free public tours are offered several times a week. But they fill up fast, so you need to book in advance. You will very likely be turned away if you just walk in hoping to get a spot. The tour lasts about an hour and a half, give or take several minutes depending on how many questions there might be. OU school of meteorology holds classes here, NOAA has their public affairs offices here, you’ll see the Storm Prediction Center, and more. It was awesome to see all the radars. I found it fascinating that all the watches and warnings across the country came from one corner desk. Obviously they have to be issued from somewhere, but it’s interesting to see a guy just sitting there doing it all. A small kiosk with gifts to purchase is available on the main floor. There are tshirts, polos, pens, travel mugs… you know, the kind of stuff that shows you’ve been there (I picked up the NWC shirt for $ 15). The Flying Cow Café is also located on the main floor, and you can go to NWC any day for that without advance notice. You’ll just need to get a visitor badge. That badge must be worn at all times, by the way, due to federal offices being in the building. A great experience, and a must do if you’re interested in studying meteorology or just love weather.

great place to go and take a tour if you are interested in weather or meteorology at all. even if you aren’t it’s still a pretty cool place to check out. had the opportunity to go on a full tour once and was blown away.
they host the national weather festival each year in early november which draws meteorologists and storm chasers from all over the country who participate in a storm chasers car show. the event draws anywhere from 3−5k people, mostly local families and folks in the weather business from all over. definitely a great event if you have kids.
norman is pretty proud of the national severe storms lab being in our town, and always encourage out of town guests to check it out.
for movie buffs you can see «dorothy» from the movie twister!