Graphic from National Weather Service
ROCKFORD (WREX) — Some weather alerts issued by the National Weather Service will soon be changing.
Graphic from National Weather Service
Beginning on November 4, some flood alerts will be consolidated and reformatted. Multiple “Advisory” products will be consolidated into a single “Flood Advisory” product while the “Flash Flood Watch” and “Flood Watch” products will be condensed into a single “Flood Watch”. Flash Flood Watches, according to the National Weather Service, will still be issued for limited occurrences, including dam failures, ice jams, or flash flooding in landslide-prone areas. Additionally, Flood Watches will be issued in a “What, Where, and When” format. Flash Flood Warnings issued by the NWS will not be changed.
Notifications sent to the public, such as through a NOAA Weather Radio or the 13 Weather Authority app, will still be released as usual, but may be somewhat different than before.
The National Weather Service has been engaging in efforts to simplify alerts that are issued from the agency’s 122 forecast offices across the country. This project, known as the Hazard Simplification Project, began in 2014, uniting NWS forecasters with social scientists in an effort to enhance public response to urgent weather impacts. The project has made adjustments to some important weather alerts. In 2017, winter weather alerts were consolidated and reformatted in an effort to minimize confusion. Alerts, such as the “Lake Effect Snow Advisory” and “Freezing Rain Advisory”, were consolidated with an existing product, the “Winter Weather Advisory”. Details on the specific winter weather threat were also changed into the “What, Where, and When” format.
The Hazard Simplification Project is still ongoing with plans to make adjustments, similar to the winter weather and flood alerts, to marine and extreme temperature alerts. Their eventual goal is to eliminate the “Advisory” headline with “plain language” headlines by 2024.
Have a news tip or story idea? Email us at news@wrex.com
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
