NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) has selected Jamie Rhome to become its new deputy director.
“Jamie brings not just strong science and media skills to the position, but acute project management, budget planning/execution, contracting, staffing, and cross line office skills to the front office”, said Ken Graham, director of the National Hurricane Center.
As the deputy director, Rhome’s duties will include the development of NHC’s long-term strategies, and defining and coordinating much of the organization’s annual planning and day-to-day execution of work and budget.
Rhome joined the National Hurricane Center in 1999 as a marine forecaster in the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch. He became a hurricane specialist in 2006 and was selected to lead NHC’s Storm Surge program in 2008. He was also selected for a temporary assignment to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy in 2008/2009 where he served as a scientific policy analyst within the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
As a Storm Surge Specialist and the Team Lead, Rhome oversaw the NHC’s Storm Surge Unit, which produces official storm surge forecasts during tropical cyclone threats to the United States. He was a guiding force behind the development of the Potential Storm Surge Flooding Map, new storm surge watches and warnings, improvements to the National Weather Service’s SLOSH storm surge model, and social science involvement – all key in redefining how the nation thinks about storm surge forecasting and evacuations. He is also leading the effort to expand storm surge forecasting capabilities into the remainder of the WMO RA-IV region, including the Caribbean and parts of Central America.
“It is an honor to serve the nation as deputy director of the National Hurricane Center,” said Rhome. “I look forward to fulfilling our vision of providing more accurate hurricane and marine forecasts, and to ensure effective communication of the associated hazards.
Rhome received both his Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Science degree in meteorology from North Carolina State University (1999, 2002).
For his pioneering work in developing new storm surge forecast and warning systems, Rhome received the 2016 National Weather Service Isaac Cline award, the 2017 Department of Commerce (DOC) Gold Medal (the highest honorary award in the DOC), the 2019 NOAA Administrator’s Award, the prestigious 2019 Service to America medal (“Sammie”), and the 2021 National Weather Service Regional Cline Award.
Rhome officially begins as deputy director on January 31, 2022. He succeeds Dr. Ed Rappaport, who retired in 2021 after serving more than two decades in that role.
