Sioux Falls, SD — The products that the National Weather Service uses to advise people about winter weather threats is changing.
Warning Coordination Meteorologist Todd Heitkamp at the Sioux Falls office of the National Weather Service says that a number of changes are still being considered, but a couple of changes will be implemented next month.
Heitkamp says changes are being considered at this time to flood, wind, and extreme temperature products too.
He says changes to the terms “watch” and “advisory” are also being considered.
Heitkamp says a number of focus groups and surveys are being used to see how people respond to various terms.
The changes to the winter weather products (Blizzard Warning merging with Winter Storm Warning and Freezing Rain Advisory being merged with Winter Weather Advisory) will take place on October 1st, says Heitkamp.
He says that as part of the “Hazard Simplification Project,” they will be changing the message format to focus on “What,” “Where,” and “When” for winter hazards to make the information clearer.
As Heitkamp has said before, people need to read or listen to the content of the message, as every storm is different.
