by Michael Steinberg & Gregg Potter

Sidebar:   Weather Resources

Related Article:   Voices in the Sky

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End of the road: flooded vineyards near Forestville, California, February, 1998. Advace warning trough weather alert systems allows public safety personel to anticipate flooded roads and mitigate safety problems early. R.C. Hall

The Internet is a valuable source for current radar, regional weather observations and other information which can give public safety agencies an edge in preparing for storm responses. This NEXRAD Doppler Radar image is available through the Personal AccuWeather(TM) service. ©1998 AccuWeather

This article can be found on
page 18 of the Mar/Apr 1998
issue of 9-1-1 Magazine.

Yet, despite a general increase in tornados and some other types of damaging weather in recent years, deaths due to the weather continue to decline. The primary reasons for this decline are improvements in weather forecasts and warnings and improvements in their dissemination.

Although we will continue to experience severe weather, significant changes in technology have made detecting and responding to severe weather better than ever before.

A variety of media are available now for receiving severe weather information. As technology increases, the methods of notification also increase. The development of pagers, PCS phones, NOAA Weather Radios, Internet-based computers, fax machines, and other types of technology will definitely save lives in the future as more PSAPs have access to these technologies and make use of them to prepare for severe weather conditions.

One of the quickest and most efficient new tools for severe weather notification is alphanumeric pagers. One significant advantage of alphanumeric pagers is that users can receive weather information wherever they are at are. Alphanumeric pagers will not only advise users that a severe weather event is occurring but detail the storm's movement and intensity in real-time. This valuable information allows users to quickly realize if they are in harm's way and, if so, they can take action immediately. A few companies provide this type of information to alphanumeric pagers. Intelligent Information and Weather Affirmation distribute some official National Weather Service bulletins in portions of the country. Weather Pager, originally developed by Widespread Weather Services and now offered by AccuWeather, provides county-specific notification of severe weather within seconds of issuance by National Weather Service office anywhere in the country.

The information transmitted includes the NWS issuing office, issued time, expiration time, type of watch or warning, and counties involved. WeatherPager formats each message into several pages, if necessary, in order to fit within the character count each client's paging company allows. Clients can choose the times of the day they want severe weather information to be active, including 24-hour notification (the most popular choice). There are also a variety of forecast and statement products available which can help users get an idea of severe weather that may be on the horizon in the next 24 to 48 hours. WeatherPager has even upgraded to include all space weather watches, warnings, and alerts which have a significant affect on radio. satellite and other communication systems worldwide.

PCS phones can be used in a similar manner as alphanumeric pagers. As these personal telephone devices become more popular, the PCS/alpha pager combos will continue to increase in coverage as well as the services sent to these devices.

NOAA Weather Radio is also a source for severe weather notification. These devices are sold around the country and receive audio transmitted from each National Weather Service office, using voice recordings sent over radio towers scattered throughout the country. A new upgrade to NOAA Weather Radio will largely overcome a drawback of large coverage regions (sometimes more than 40 countries), by allowing users to choose the specific counties they want notification for. These are called SAME (Specific Area Message Encoder) radios.

Weather Data is also available via satellite delivery through DTN, which includes national and regional Doppler radar, satellite pictures and a variety of weather maps. The greatest advantage of the DTN system is that it is totally turnkey, including a specialized PC and satellite dish in addition to the data feed

Fax machines can also be used to receive weather data, including real-time notification of official National Weather Service Watches and Warnings. Alden and AccuWeather are two of the leading providers of this service.

The Internet is increasingly becoming the weather source of choice for many people, and many different sites provide weather information. The primary drawback to the Internet is that unlike the pager, radio or fax services described above, the Internet does not provide you with proactive automatic notification when a severe weather watch or warning is issued. Rather, you need to log into the Internet to find out if a watch or warning is in effect. The Internet is also helpful to look at the latest radar, regional weather observations and other information once notification is received that a watch or warning is in effect. [see sidebar]

Doppler radar is one of the products that has helped meteorologists enhance their ability to make more accurate and timely forecasts of coming severe weather. Animations of the radar data show how precipitation is moving and display its intensification and weakening. With radar updates available at the full update frequency of each of the 150 radars in the national NEXRAD Doppler Radar Network, if you have access to the Internet, you can watch severe weather as it develops and moves toward a particular area.

Many devices and technologies have arrived in the United States over the past few years that have contributed immensely to severe weather warnings. As time passes, more technologies will be developed and more ways to learn of severe weather notification will be accessible. This will inevitably allow more people to be notified and more lives to be saved.

As we move toward the millennium, severe weather will continue to plague the nation, but more accurate and timely advance notice of severe weather, combined with better dissemination methods, will give us more time than ever to take action to save lives and property before severe weather hits.