The Missouri Radio Message Board by ArtMorris.com > Radio Discussion Groups > Weather > "Watch" vs "Warning" |
The Missouri Radio Message Board by ArtMorris.com > Radio Discussion Groups > Weather > "Watch" vs "Warning" |
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| "Watch" vs "Warning" | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Thu May 13th, 2010 09:08 pm |
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1st Post |
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artmorris Administrator 
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I have said for years that I think the terms "Watch" and "Warning" are confusing terms. During a seminar with the guys at the NWS in Springfield a number of years ago, we discussed this issue. Apparently, the NWS has discussed it over the years. All you have to do is listen to the scanner during a weather event. Even trained law-enforcement agents can't get it right. "Lawrence county is under a tornado warning for the next 4 hours...". Of course, they meant "watch". And, the general public is sometimes completely confused by the two terms. If you've ever answered the phone at a radio station during a severe weather situation, you've heard people who don't know the difference between a watch and a warning. All they want to know is, "do I need to take shelter?" I worked with one manager back in the 90's who didn't want to put anything on the air unless a severe thunderstorm or tornado was bearing down on the city of license. While I didn't agree with that, I get the point. Simplicity, no confusion. In my opinion, we really need a different set of words. I don't know what they might be, but I think something different is in order. What's your opinion? Art
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| Posted: Thu May 20th, 2010 06:40 am |
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2nd Post |
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DB Member
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We do not need change..We need to inform the public better. The wam bam thank you mam storm warnings are the problen. Slow down inform and spend time telling what is going on radar where it is heading and the hazard. We are in the change the name to everything. A Watch and Warning are simple has worked since 1958. However the past few years it all starts in Arts back yard so Lawrence County is what I am glued to to know what is coming to Greene County.
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| Posted: Mon Jun 14th, 2010 06:53 pm |
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3rd Post |
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DJMark Member 
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Unfortunately, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Why? -In the past few years, the Storm Prediction Center out of Oklahoma has been issuing tornado watches under two different varieties: "normal" tornado watches and "potentially dangerous situation" tornado watches. Given how all tornados are "potentially dangerous", I'm not sure this helps save lives. -The NWS has gone from a warning model of issuing for counties to, now, the actual areas that will be impacted by the severe storm. The good? Far more accurate locations to warn. The bad? One tiny cell might be affecting a remote corner of several contiguous counties simultaneously, thus forcing all the televised weather bugs on-screen to reflect 2, 3, or more counties even though the counties might be largely unaffected. -Just recently, the NWS has raised the minimum requirements for a thunderstorm to be considered "severe". The corollary is that the NWS now issues "significant weather alerts" for those storms that are almost, but not quite, severe under the new guidelines. Yep, even more items to be scrolling at the bottom of your television screen to worry about. Would it be nice to streamline the delivery of severe watches and warnings? Sure, but to come up with such a system that satisfies the public, the media, and my fellow meteorologists is likely just a pipe dream.
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| Posted: Tue Jun 15th, 2010 02:56 pm |
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4th Post |
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techpuppy Guest
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We had a "significant weather alert" a few weeks ago. Do they send an EAS alert for them? Seems confusing to the public. For instance the severe thunderstorm warning has been allowed to expire because the storm intensity has diminished. However, there is now a significant weather alert which can still indicate possible damaging strong winds and hail.
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