Weather helps shape lives and livelihoods and has a profound impact on the U.S. economy. Continuing a historic trend, there were 14 U.S. billion-dollar events in 2018. Totaling $91 billion, the number and cost of these events trailed only those of 2011, 2016 and 2017.

NOAA investments paid off at 2018 hotspots. In September, days before Hurricane Michael hit Florida, NOAA's track, lead-time, storm-surge and flood projections meant assets were ready and the public warned. In December, NOAA's close working relationships with local emergency managers and on-target tornado forecasts helped keep an Illinois community safe. A parade was canceled shortly before a strong tornado struck. Five hundred buildings were destroyed, but no lives were lost.

NOAA’s National Water Model was key to accurately forecasting catastrophic flood levels during Hurricane Florence. Effective drought prediction helped water resource managers and many others mitigate drought's impact. NOAA exceeded research-to-operations targets in 2018 by producing, for example, a fast, high-resolution product that increases weather forecast accuracy and doubles lead time for some hazards.

Rising fast on the horizon, a blue economy offers great promise for making our nation safer, healthier and more prosperous. NOAA is on the front lines of this emerging new ocean economy, pioneering the science, techniques and tools to help it grow wisely and sustainably. 

In particular, NOAA's science and collaborative efforts to end overfishing and rebuild stocks are showing results. Overfished stocks are at an all-time low. Canary rockfish were rebuilt in 15 years instead of the expected 30. Pacific ocean perch were rebuilt 34 years ahead of schedule. As a global leader in sustainable fisheries, NOAA is also on the front lines of aquaculture, modeling economically and environmentally viable ways to support this visionary and steadily growing U.S. industry. 

A thriving blue economy stems from healthy ocean and coastal resources, and NOAA's role in mapping and studying them is critical. Mariners rely on NOAA nautical charts to support navigation along nearly 95,000 miles of ocean and coasts. NOAA's HAB forecasts are vitally important in supporting state and local decisions in coastal communities, which now represent about 50 percent of GDP. In 2018, these forecasts helped Washington State open a razor clam fishery, adding about $7 million to regional revenue. 

NOAA strengthens America’s economy on many levels. PORTS® makes it safer and more efficient for super-sized ships coming through the recently expanded Panama Canal to enter Miami’s seaport. Effectively ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks boosts the value of the U.S.'s $212 billion fisheries industry. 

NOAA ships, planes, satellites and computing power were used to full advantage during the active 2018 hurricane and wildfire seasons. Satellites exceeded NOAA’s goal of providing critical real-time satellite data without gaps.

Two geostationary satellites, GOES-East and GOES-West, improved hurricane tracking and smoke detection. The satellites scan five times faster, quadruple image resolution, and triple the channels of precursors. NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown completed an international mission to service buoys monitoring waters that influence U.S. heat waves and flooding.

A massive NOAA supercomputer upgrade boosted high-performance capability by 50 percent and added 60 percent more storage capacity, enabling billions of observations from planes, satellites, buoys and ground stations to be ingested and analyzed daily.