Editing Storm Prediction Center (section)

{{Short description|American severe weather forecasting center}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = Storm Prediction Center
| type            =
| logo            = US-StormPredictionCenter-Logo.svg
| logo_width      = 200px
| logo_caption    = The logo of the Storm Prediction Center.
| formed          = {{Start date|1995|10}}
| preceding1      = National Severe Storms Forecast Center (1966–1995)
| preceding2      = SELS (1953–1966)
| dissolved       =
| superseding     =
| agency_type     =
| jurisdiction    = [[Federal government of the United States]]
| headquarters    = [[Norman, Oklahoma]]
| employees       = 43
| budget          =
| chief1_name     = Russell Schneider
| chief1_position = Director
| parent_agency   = [[National Centers for Environmental Prediction]]
| child1_agency   =
| website         = {{URL|http://www.spc.noaa.gov/|www.spc.noaa.gov}}
| footnotes       =
}}

The '''Storm Prediction Center''' ('''SPC''') is a US [[government agency]] that is part of the [[National Centers for Environmental Prediction]] (NCEP), operating under the control of the [[National Weather Service]] (NWS),<ref name="history">{{cite web|title=A brief history of the Storm Prediction Center|url=http://www.spc.noaa.gov/history/early.html|author=Stephen F. Corfidi|website=Storm Prediction Center|publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]|date=December 27, 2009|access-date=January 31, 2010|archive-date=June 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624003328/http://www.spc.noaa.gov/history/early.html|url-status=live}}</ref> which in turn is part of the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA) of the [[United States Department of Commerce]] (DoC).<ref>{{cite web|title=NOAA's National Weather Service|url=http://www.weather.gov/|website=[[National Weather Service]]|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|access-date=May 13, 2010|archive-date=May 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529000056/http://www.weather.gov/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Headquartered at the [[National Weather Center]] in [[Norman, Oklahoma]], the Storm Prediction Center is tasked with forecasting the risk of [[severe thunderstorm]]s and [[tornado]]es in the [[contiguous United States]]. It issues [[#Convective outlooks|convective outlooks]], [[#Mesoscale discussions|mesoscale discussions]], and [[#Weather watches|watches]] as a part of this process. Convective outlooks are issued for the following eight days (issued separately for Day&nbsp;1, Day&nbsp;2, Day&nbsp;3, and Days 4–8), and detail the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes during the given forecast period, although tornado, [[hail]] and wind details are only available for Days 1 and 2. Day 3 uses a probabilistic scale from a Marginal to Moderate risk (A Day 3 High risk cannot be issued), while Days 4–8 use a probabilistic scale determining the probability for a [[severe weather]] event in percentage categories (15%/yellow and 30%/orange).

[[Storm Prediction Center#Mesoscale discussions|Mesoscale discussions]] are issued to provide information on certain individual regions where severe weather is becoming a threat and states whether a watch is likely and details thereof, particularly concerning conditions conducive for the development of severe thunderstorms in the short term, as well as situations of isolated severe weather when watches are not necessary. Watches are issued when forecasters are confident that severe weather will occur, and usually precede the onset of severe weather by one hour, although this sometimes varies depending on certain atmospheric conditions that may inhibit or accelerate convective development.

The agency is also responsible for forecasting fire weather (indicating conditions that are favorable for wildfires) in the contiguous U.S., issuing fire weather outlooks for Days&nbsp;1, 2, and 3–8, which detail areas with various levels of risk for fire conditions (such as fire levels and fire alerts).