The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (mentioned in the November 11, 1998 Scout Report) sponsors the National Severe Storms Laboratory. The primary goal of this Environmental Research Laboratory is to improve short-term predictions of hazardous weather events such as blizzards, ice storms, and tornadoes. Ongoing research conducted in the Stormscale (SRAD) and Mesoscale (MRAD) divisions helps improve the forecast services of the National Weather Service (NWS). An excellent tutorial about weather phenomena and weather map analysis is presented in the Weather Room section.