WSO Pago Pago is located near the Tafuna Airport in American Samoa. The office is the only National Weather Service office located in the Southern Hemisphere.
WSO Pago Pago operates 24 hours a day, providing public weather forecasts and warnings, including high surf, in both English and Samoan, towards the NWS mission of "Protecting Life and Property".
In addition to issuing forecasts and warnings, the WSO Pago Pago office launches weather balloons twice a day to gather information about the upper atmosphere. This information is used by the staff at WSO Pago Pago, and also at other offices across the NWS as the information from all balloon launches are incorporated in the various computer models meteorologists use.
During tropical cyclones, WSO Pago Pago works with the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu, HI and the Meteorological Service Offices in Apia, as well as the World Meteorological Organization's Nadi office to issue watches and warnings for American Samoa.
Read about our building dedication on November 3, 2003.
See pictures from our building dedication on November 3, 2003.
Tropical Cyclone Heta (2003/2004 Tropical Season)