The National Weather Service recently chose the northern office of the Idaho Transportation Department (IDT) as the first Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador in the region to get the designation.
These chosen ambassador offices are asked to spend time serving their local communities through outreach efforts to provide guidance and leadership on weather preparedness.
“We are committed to do whatever it takes and use any program available to us to ensure that safe-driving conditions are maintained year-round on our state highway system,” northern Idaho District Operations Manager Jason Minzghor said. “By participating in this program, we will now be able to continue in those efforts and have one of the most accurate and well-respected information agencies assisting us — the National Weather Service.”
The National Weather Service previously gave StormReady designations to ITD’s District 6 in eastern Idaho, District 5 in southeast Idaho and District 4 in south-central Idaho . As of today, ITD currently is the only state transportation agency in the U.S. with a StormReady designation.
“As an ambassador, you are committing to strengthen the relationship you have with the National Weather Service to empower people to be more aware and resilient to hazardous weather,” Andy Brown, a warning-coordination meteorologist from Spokane, Washington, said.