{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/murkowski-convenes-stakeholders-in-yakutat-to-address-systemic-weather-system-failures-in-rural-alaska", "Murkowski Convenes Stakeholders in Yakutat to Address Systemic Weather System Failures in Rural Alaska", "2024-08-16", "2024", "2024-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", "murkowski", "https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/press-releases?PageNum_rs=11", "scraper", "Yakutat, AK \u2013 U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) convened a summit featuring representatives from government agencies and companies responsible for maintaining the Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) in Yakutat to collaborate on better practices to reduce travel delays and bolster safety in Alaska aviation.\n\nParticipants included Director of the National Weather Service (NWS) Ken Graham, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s (NOAA) Director of Congressional Affairs John Sokich, NWS\u2019s Alaska Region Director Michael Couch, the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s Regional Administrator Mike O\u2019Hare, and a host of local and state officials, and aviation industry heads.\n\nNWS has faced persistent struggles at the Yakutat Airport ASOS station due to power and connectivity outages, as well as a lack of redundancy. When the ASOS goes dark, the Yakutat airport can be closed down for long stretches of time. While acute in Yakutat, these problems are indicative of travel statewide, particularly in rural Alaska. With multiple federal agencies overseeing the system\u2019s management, Senator Murkowski brought the stakeholders together to collaborate on short and long-term solutions that will bring greater reliability and safety to Alaskans traveling by air.\n\n\u201cEarlier this year, I experienced what many rural Alaskans are all-too-familiar with \u2013 a long delay that forced me to redo my travel plans after Yakutat\u2019s ASOS suddenly went down,\u201d Senator Murkowski said. \u201cAs I learned more about the tangled management responsibilities of multiple federal agencies overseeing Alaska's aviation weather reporting systems, it became obvious there have to be system improvements and greater communication between all stakeholders. This summit allowed us to drill down to the core of the issue and work on solutions. This conversation is just the beginning in ensuring that all agencies and stakeholders are working together to ensure safer and more reliable air travel not only in Yakutat, but across the state.\u201d\n\nDuring the roundtable discussion, several steps to address the issue at Yakutat were identified, including having a community resident become the local weather observer as a part of the Non-Federal Weather Observation (NF-OBS) Program; expanding remote repair capabilities as connectivity improves when Cordova-Tel\u2019s microwave network comes online in October; establishing battery backup and power conditioning systems; and moving forward with a project to consolidate Yakutat\u2019s three ASOS system components in one location with a singular backup power supply. The group also discussed improving collaboration across agencies, and policy changes necessary to address the persistent weather sensing issues experienced not just in Yakutat, but across Alaska.\n\nBackground:\n\nYakutat Airport is a focal point for statewide weather observation challenges critical to the Don Young Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative (DYAASI) and improvements in aviation safety. Earlier this year, the 2024 FAA Reauthorizationestablished the DYAASI, to include specific weather reporting priorities, including:\n\nSetting 2030 deadlines for the installation of certified weather technology (AWOS/VWOS).\n\nHolding the FAA Administrator responsible for the reliability of certified weather systems in Alaska and requiring within two years a \u201cweather system reliability and restoration plan for Alaska\u201d to include telecommunications connection reliability and the available maintenance parts and staff.\n\nCreating a process and requirement to deploy additional weather cameras, while requiring consultation with government and airspace users for deployment location.\n\nIn addition to Senator Murkowski, summit participants included:\n\nKen Graham, Director, National Weather Service\n\nJohn Sokich, Director of Congressional Affairs, NOAA\n\nMichael Couch, Chief, Data Acquisition, Facilities & Electronics Branch, NOAA Alaska Region\n\nScott Lindsey, Director Alaska Region, National Weather Service\n\nMike O\u2019Hare, Regional Administrator, FAA Alaskan Region\n\nTom Waldron, Director of Technical Operations, FAA Western Service Area\n\nTroy LaRue, Division Operations Manager, Statewide Aviation, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities\n\nAndy Mills, Special Assistant to the Commissioner, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities\n\nLynae Craig, Alaska Airlines\n\nBridget Thompson, Alaska Airlines, Director of Station Operations for Southeast Alaska\n\nWill Day, Executive Director, Alaska Air Carriers Association\n\nDan Knesek, Vice President of Commercial, Grant Aviation\n\nWilfred \u201cBoyuck\u201d Ryan, President, Ryan Air\n\nBill Stamm, CEO, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative\n\nJeremiah Beckett, CEO, Cordova Telecom\n\nStephen Phillips, CTO. Cordova Telecom\n\nSarah Kathrein, Project Manager, Yakutat Fiber Deployment\n\nCindy Bremner, Mayor of Yakutat\n\nCasey Mapes, Fire Chief (Candidate for Weather Observer)\n\nShawn Uschmann, AT&T\n\nDoug LaMarche, AT&T\n\nMark Carlson, ACS", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:41:32Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/murkowski-convenes-stakeholders-in-yakutat-to-address-systemic-weather-system-failures-in-rural-alaska"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2246589176356792, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}