STORM2K

NOAA AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS TO PROVIDE MORE PRECISE LOCATION THIS FALL

Jan. 16, 2007 — The NOAA National Weather Service will introduce this fall storm-based warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flash floods and marine hazards that are more geographically specific for these short-duration weather events. Currently, such warnings are issued county wide.

"Weather doesn't follow geopolitical boundaries," said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, director of the NOAA National Weather Service. "Storm-based warnings provide the public with more specific information about the location of severe weather and the direction it is expected to move. Seconds count during tornadoes and flash floods. We want to provide the public with the most accurate description of what's happening in their neighborhood. We also want to avoid warning non-threatened portions of the county."

When issuing a warning, the NOAA National Weather Service will specify areas within a county and refer to commonly known landmarks such as highways or rivers.

Full Story and Images here.

Very interesting and makes a lot more sense. New technology is making things better and a little easier for the mets. Thanks Michael.

thats a very good idea. its good here because the summer time storms are only 1-3 miles wide not affecting the entire county.

I don't understand how that would look. Is there an example anywhere?

Will it be more of...

Tornado warning for...
From 5 miles south of Clinton to Highway 90?

Maybe Tornado Warning for smaller sections with Severe T- Storm Warnings around it?

And when they announce the warnings won't it take longer to mention each individual town or place the storm is effecting rather then just counties?

ohiostorm wrote:And when they announce the warnings won't it take longer to mention each individual town or place the storm is effecting rather then just counties?

That could be a drawback.

TexasStooge wrote:

ohiostorm wrote:And when they announce the warnings won't it take longer to mention each individual town or place the storm is effecting rather then just counties?

That could be a drawback.

Ah, but dont they already mention towns in the path of the storm? They say "LOCATIONS TO BE IMPACTED INCLUDE:" then they list the cities or rural areas to be impacted.

Yeah they do but they announce the county right off the bat so you can be prepared faster even if the entire county is mentioned. But I'm sure they know what they are doing.

Interesting. I've had the storm-based warnings (which come from the NWS) show-up graphically in GRLevel3 since I got the product back in 2005 (see magenta/pink boxes):



Also all the text warnings I can recall in recent memory are also storm-based, not county based. They even say, as an example, "affected locations include...Tomball, Spring, Aldine, The Woodlands, Kingwood, and Bush-Intercontinental Airport".

I don't recall a blanket county-wide Tornado or Severe T-storm warning in a long time. It seems like they are announcing something "new" that they have been doing in practice for a couple of years already.

Jason, remembering that at my age the memory gets fuzzy, are those NWS warnings with the cities or local stations? I really can't remember.

Hey David,

Can you please clarify what you're asking? Thanks.

Argh... really this is nothing new.

NWS has not issued county-based severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in a long time. They are issued based on latitude/longitude. Even in the text of the warning, they break it down to portions of the county (for example, northeastern Sarpy County).

The MAIN problem is that local TV stations, TWC, etc, use the broadbrush method of covering the whole county. In my opinion, this fuels complacency. Hopefully this new method will ween folks away from the county-wide warning display.

Jason what I was asking is if what you are remembering was for sure NWS text warnings(or NOAA radio) or if it was the local ocms using their radars and telling us what areas are going to be impacted next by the storm/tornado.

vbhoutex wrote:Jason what I was asking is if what you are remembering was for sure NWS text warnings(or NOAA radio) or if it was the local ocms using their radars and telling us what areas are going to be impacted next by the storm/tornado.

Hey David, the warnings were from the NWS.

I have seen OCMs use their proprietary radars to show cities and warning cones; the first I personally recall was KAMC in Lubbock back in about 1995 - they did this even before KXAS in Dallas (started about 1998 or 1999). So, yes, OCMs were ahead of the curve with the advent of "streel level" software, etc., in the mid-late 1990s.

But I know the NWS has been listing individual cities for a few years as senorpepr pointed out, and also the storm-specific data on GR3 comes from the NWS. I haven't seen a county-wide warning in a long time.

This is just a healthy reminder that NOAA and NWS will issue warnings by specific cities and landmarks instead of Counties starting October 1, 2007.

So will warnings on Tv have to change? Like on the corner of the screen will the entire county remain shaded or just the actual warned part? I know the NWS has technically been issuing storm based warnings for a while but during severe weather episodes or outbreaks will the OCMs and media go by this now?

I did notice the few times over the summer that coverage was interrupted for severe weather that a few stations only highlighted the true warning area on their radars.

Most of the systems have been changed over . . . I think I saw the local station back in DC start showing polygon warnings sometime over the summer . . . even though most local WFOs have been issuing polygon-based warnings (as opposed to the county-based) for a few years. I guess that's the key point here . . . starting Monday, the WFOs will be required to issue them based on polygons, as a few still trace county outlines with their warning polygons (usually flash flood warnings, but I have seen it on SVRs and TORs as well). The biggest changes now will be in the way NOAA markets the products and the way the warnings are verified (they are now officially verified by the polygons and not the county as a whole).

In the long run, just expect that next time you see your house under one of the warning colors on the TV station's radar, you will be getting something . . . no more will it be the "other" end of the county.

Looks like it is already in use.

It's nice to see the part of the county that is under the warning instead of all the county. NWS just started doing it in the last few days.

Kristi

it looks like it is fully in place now, and has been for a few hours now.
look how small this tornado warning is:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/