NOAA HOME PAGE AMONG TOP 100 SITES CHOSEN BY PC MAGAZINE

March 14, 2003 — PC Magazine selected the NOAA home page as one of this year’s “100 Top Undiscovered Web sites,” citing it as one of the sites “you won't be able to imagine life before them.” The NOAA home page is the online front door to the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In its March 25 issue, PC Magazine says the NOAA home page is, “chock a block with articles and resources on the weather and our oceans.” The NOAA home page is the only federal government Web site listed in PC Magazine’s Top 100 Undiscovered Web sites of 2003.

“This is, indeed, a great honor,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The NOAA home page is the starting point for Internet audiences around the world to find a wealth of information on the science that NOAA conducts each and every day.”

The NOAA home page is one of the most popular federal government Web sites on the Internet. It is often among the top 10 visited federal sites by Internet audience measurement companies.

In 2002, the NOAA home page received more than 275 million hits and more than 22 million page views. Those figures are only for the agency’s home page. When visits to the other NOAA divisions, such as the NOAA National Weather Service, are factored in, the hits jump to more than a billion.

“NOAA’s home page is the starting point for people to find the latest information on the weather, climate, oceans and space,” said Greg Hernandez, the NOAA home page online editor and webmaster. “We’re grateful to the editors of PC Magazine for their recognition of the NOAA home page as a site people should check out.”

“It’s been our experience over the years that millions of people turn to the NOAA home page each year during severe weather events across the United States, such as hurricanes, tornadoes and snowstorms,” added Hernandez.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation’s coastal and marine resources. NOAA is part of the U. S. Department of Commerce.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA Home Page

Media Contact:
Greg Hernandez, NOAA, (202) 482-3091