The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996                 TAG: 9607260537
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
TYPE: Local Briefs 
DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   31 lines

OUTER BANKS WEATHER

Members of the Dare County Tourist Bureau met with representatives of The Weather Channel in Atlanta Wednesday in an attempt to inform forecasters about the Outer Banks.

The meeting was held in the wake of Hurricane Bertha, which resulted in the evacuation of most of the North Carolina coast.

Rebecca Moore, Dare County's director of tourism and marketing, said the meeting with the on-camera meteorology manager at The Weather Channel was an important step in developing a positive relationship with the television network.

``Our approach was to be positive and informative,'' Moore said. ``The Weather Channel provides both the public and other media outlets important information that impacts Dare County. Our goal was to provide good information to assist the meteorologists and their producers.''

Tourism officials provided materials, including detailed maps of the Outer Banks and other North Carolina coastal destinations, to seven on-air meteorologists and to the staff of 24 researchers and producers at the Atlanta-based network.

Moore invited officials with The Weather Channel to visit the Outer Banks when the weather is nice and sunny.

``In an event of another hurricane or other weather related situation, Dare County now has a good contact and a positive relationship with The Weather Channel,'' Moore said. by CNB