Editing Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center

{{Short description|Civilian command facility for the Federal Emergency Management Agency}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name= Mount Weather
|location= [[Virginia State Route 601 (Loudoun County)|State Route 601]], [[Loudoun County, Virginia|Loudoun]]–[[Clarke County, Virginia|Clarke]] counties,<br> near [[Bluemont, Virginia]], U.S.
|image= MountWeatherFEMA.jpg
|image_size = 270px
|caption= Mount Weather,<br>with the [[Shenandoah Valley]] in the background
| image_map              = 
| image_mapsize          = 
| image_map_alt          = 
| image_map_caption      = 
| pushpin_map            = USA#Virginia
| pushpin_mapsize        = 270
| pushpin_map_alt        = 
| pushpin_map_caption    = Location in the [[United States]]##Location in [[Virginia]]
| pushpin_relief         = y
| pushpin_image          = 
| pushpin_label          = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_mark           = 
| pushpin_marksize       = 7
|type= [[Federal Emergency Management Agency|FEMA]] command center, permanent [[United States Executive Branch|Executive Branch]] substitute
|built= Unknown
|materials=
|status= In service
|used= 1959–present
|controlledby= [[U.S. Department of Homeland&nbsp;Security]]
|commanders=
|battles=
}}

The '''Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center''' is a government command facility located near [[Frogtown, Clarke County, Virginia]], used as the center of operations for the [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA). Also known as the '''High Point Special Facility''' ('''HPSF'''), its preferred designation since 1991 is "SF".<ref name= "hideaway">{{cite magazine | url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,156041,00.html | title=Civil Defense Doomsday Hideaway | magazine=Time | date=June 24, 2001 | access-date=November 26, 2017 | author=Gup, Ted | author-link =Ted Gup| location=[[Berryville, Virginia]]}}</ref>

The facility is a primary relocation site for the highest level of civilian and military officials in case of national disaster, playing a significant role in [[continuity of government]] (per the [[Continuity of Operations Plan|U.S. Continuity of Operations Plan]]).<ref name="clui">{{cite journal| date =Spring 2002| title =Fire Departments| journal =The Lay of the Land: The Center for Land Use Interpretation Newsletter| location =Culver City, CA| publisher =[[The Center for Land Use Interpretation]]| pages =6–7| url =http://www.clui.org/clui_4_1/lotl/v23/CLUI_LOTL_spring2002.pdf| access-date =April 3, 2008| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080625023051/http://www.clui.org/clui_4_1/lotl/v23/CLUI_LOTL_spring2002.pdf| archive-date =June 25, 2008| df =mdy-all}}</ref>

Mount Weather is the location of a control station for the FEMA National Radio System (FNARS), a [[high frequency]] radio system connecting most federal public safety agencies and the U.S. military with most of the states.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://acs.oes.ca.gov/Pages/acs_opportunities.html |title=Opportunities With OES ACS Program |access-date=April 2, 2008 |work=OES Auxiliary Communications Service Homepage |publisher=Governor's (California, USA) Office of Emergency Services |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509074632/http://acs.oes.ca.gov/Pages/acs_opportunities.html |archive-date=May 9, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> FNARS allows the president to access the [[Emergency Alert System]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/phin/conference/04conference/05-27-04/Session_12D_Ross_Merlin.pdf |title=Communications Systems for Public Health Contingencies |access-date=April 2, 2008 |last=Merlin |first=Ross Z. |year=2004 |publisher=DHS/FEMA Wireless Program Management Team |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080625023050/http://www.cdc.gov/phin/conference/04conference/05-27-04/Session_12D_Ross_Merlin.pdf |archive-date = June 25, 2008}}</ref>

The site was brought into the public eye in 1974 by ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and the [[Associated Press]], which mentioned the facility following the crash of [[TWA Flight 514]], a [[Boeing 727]] jetliner, into Mount Weather on December 1 of that year resulting in the deaths of 92 people.<ref name=pcinva>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a0ENAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5886%2C23984 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |agency=Associated Press |title=Plane crash in Va. kills 92 |date=December 2, 1974 |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/mt_weather.htm | title=Mount Weather; High Point Special Facility (SF), Western Virginia Office|work=GlobalSecurity.org}}</ref>

== Location ==
Located in the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]],<ref name="clui"/> access to the operations center is available via [[Virginia State Route 601 (Loudoun County)|State Route 601]] (also called Blueridge Mountain Road) in [[Bluemont, Virginia]].<ref name= "cheney's cave">{{cite news | last =Bedard | first =Paul | date =December 4, 2005| title =Things That Go Bump In The Night At Cheney's Cave
 | work =White House Weekly  | page=1}}</ref> The facility is located near [[Purcellville, Virginia]], {{convert|51|mi|km}} west of [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name ="worst">{{cite news | last=Schwartz | first=Stephen I. | title=Near Washington, Preparing for the Worst | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=August 9, 2006 | page=A16 | url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/08/AR2006080801220.html
 }}</ref>

The site was initially opened as a weather station in the late 1800s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/mt_weather.htm |title= Mt. Weather}}</ref> [[William Jackson Humphreys]] was selected as the supervising director for the Mount Weather Research Observatory, which was operational from 1904 to 1914. In 1928, the observatory building was the [[summer White House]] for [[Calvin Coolidge]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Geelhart, Chris|title=The Mount Weather Research Observatory|website=National Weather Service Heritage|url=https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/nws-heritage/-/mount-weather-research-observatory}}</ref> The site was used as a [[Civilian Public Service]] facility (Camp #114) during World War II.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://civilianpublicservice.org/camps/114/archivalmaterial |title=CPS Camp # 114}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://civilianpublicservice.org/camps/114/1 |title=CPS Unit Number 114-01}}</ref> At that time, there were just two permanent buildings on the site: the administration/dormitory building, and the laboratory. Those buildings still stand, supplemented by many more modern buildings.

The underground facility within Mount Weather, designated "Area B", was completed in 1959. FEMA established training facilities on the mountain's surface ("Area A") in 1979.<ref name ="training site bunker">{{cite news | last=McGrath | first=Gareth | title=Training Site Bunker Used After Sept. 11 Terror Attacks
 | newspaper=Morning Star | location=Wilmington, NC | date=January 30, 2002 | pages=1B, 6B }}</ref>

The above-ground portion of the FEMA complex (Area A) is at least {{convert|434|acre|ha}}. This measurement includes a training area of unspecified size.<ref name="training site bunker"/> Area B, the underground component, contains {{convert|600000|ft2|m2}}.<ref name="worst"/>

== Notable activations and evacuations ==
The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center saw the first full-scale activation of the facility during the [[Northeast blackout of 1965]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/mt_weather.htm |title=Mount Weather / High Point Special Facility (SF) / Western Virginia Office of Controlled Conflict Operations - United States Nuclear Forces |website=fas.org|access-date=2016-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Doomsday Scenario |last=Keeny |first=L. Douglas |publisher=MBI Publishing Company |year=2002 |isbn=0-7603-1313-X |location=St. Paul, Minnesota |pages=[https://archive.org/details/doomsdayscenario00doug/page/16 16] |url=https://archive.org/details/doomsdayscenario00doug/page/16 }}</ref>

According to a letter to the editor of ''[[The Washington Post]]'', after the [[September 11 attacks]], most of the [[United States Congress|congressional]] leadership were evacuated to Mount Weather by helicopter.<ref name="worst"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/mt_weather.htm |title=Mount Weather |date=April 27, 2005 |work=Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) |publisher=GlobalSecurity.org |access-date=November 27, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Web site posts what it says are half million text messages from 9/11 |author=Jeanne Meserve and Mallory Simon |newspaper=CNN |publisher=Turner Broadcasting System, Inc |date=November 26, 2009 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/25/september.11.messages/index.html |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20210619195204/http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/25/september.11.messages/index.html | url-status =dead | archive-date =June 19, 2021 |access-date=June 19, 2021 }}</ref>

Between 1979 and 1981, the [[National Gallery of Art]] developed a program to transport valuable paintings in its collection to Mount Weather via helicopter. The success of the relocation would depend upon how far in advance warning of an attack was received.<ref name= "leonardo">{{cite magazine  | last =Gup | first =Ted | date =October 10, 1992 | title =Grab That Leonardo! | magazine =Time | url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,976197,00.html | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080408143147/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,976197,00.html | url-status =dead | archive-date =April 8, 2008 | access-date =April 3, 2008}}</ref>

== In the media ==
{{unreferenced section|date=June 2018}}
The first video of Mount Weather shot from the air to be broadcast on national TV was filmed by ABC News producer [[Bill Lichtenstein]], and was included in the 1983 ''[[20/20 (U.S. TV series)|20/20]]'' segment "Nuclear Preparation:  Can We Survive", featuring ''20/20'' correspondent [[Tom Jarriel]]. Lichtenstein flew over the Mount Weather facility with an ABC camera crew. The news magazine report also included House Majority Leader [[Tip O'Neill]] and Representative [[Ed Markey]], confirming that there were contingency plans for the relocation of the United States government in the event of a nuclear war or major disaster.

Mount Weather and the now-deactivated [[Project Greek Island|bunker at The Greenbrier]] were featured in the [[A&E (TV channel)|A&E]] documentary ''Bunkers''. The documentary, first broadcast on October 23, 2001, features interviews with engineers and political and intelligence analysts and compares The Greenbrier and Mount Weather to [[Saddam Hussein]]'s control bunker buried beneath [[Baghdad]].

== See also ==
*[[Cheyenne Mountain Complex]]
*[[Military Auxiliary Radio System]]
*[[Raven Rock Mountain Complex]]
*[[Warrenton Training Center]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==
*{{cite journal |last= Emerson |first= Steven |title= America's Doomsday Project |journal= U.S. News & World Report |date= August 7, 1989 |pages= 26–31}}
* {{cite book |title=Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself |publisher=Simon & Schuster  |author=Garrett M. Graff  |author-link=Garrett M. Graff  |year=2017 }}
*{{cite magazine |last= Gup |first= Ted |title= The Doomsday Blueprints |magazine= Time |date= August 10, 1992 |pages= 32–39 |author-mask= ———}}

== External links ==
*[http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/09/mount-weather-documents-before-and.html 1962 Mount Weather Operating Documents]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050330084241/http://www.fema.gov/rrr/weather.shtm FEMA page on its Mt. Weather operations as saved by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine on March 30, 2005]
*[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1373320-1240819-0-066-hq-19017-section-01-pdf 1956 FBI memo concerning a "Plan C" emergency readiness exercise involving the High Point Communications Center]

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{{US POTUS Emergency Posts}}
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[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1959]]
[[Category:Disaster preparedness in the United States]]
[[Category:1959 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:United States Department of Homeland Security]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Clarke County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Loudoun County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Federal Emergency Management Agency]]
[[Category:Subterranea of the United States]]
[[Category:Nuclear bunkers in the United States]]
[[Category:Continuity of government in the United States]]
[[Category:Civilian Public Service]]