[Skywarn] NWS changes

[Lloyd Colston]

*CHANGES TO NWS NORMAN WEBSITE*
Some major changes are coming to the NWS Norman website, starting in
October. We (along with all NWS Southern Region offices) will be moving
over to a new standardized content management system, and this means our
page will look much different. We are still working out the details for how
we will display our graphics, but you can get a rough idea of how the page
might look by going here  <http://www.weather.gov/eax/>and here
<http://www.weather.gov/ict/>.

*NEW ICONS*
After surveys and collaboration with risk communication experts, the NWS
will roll out new icons for all our weather.gov local forecasts starting
tomorrow(July 7th). You can read more about the process and see examples
here
<https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/news/16094/picturing-forecast-national-weather-service-graphics-developed-ncar-research>

*2015 PRELIMINARY TORNADO NUMBERS*
We are still in the process of investigating and finalizing our tornado
count for May 2015. This process will continue until the end of July, when
we enter and officially certify the data in the NWS database. Until then,
all numbers will be preliminary.

As of this morning (7/6/15) here are the preliminary numbers:
*May 2015 tornadoes*
State of Oklahoma - 76
WFO Norman CWA Oklahoma counties - 52
WFO Norman CWA Texas counties - 13

*2015 tornadoes*
State of Oklahoma - 88
WFO Norman CWA Oklahoma counties - 58
WFO Norman CWA Texas counties - 14

*STATE LEVEL SPC GRAPHICS*
The Storm Prediction Center will be adding state level graphics to their
outlook pages very soon. If you'd like a preview, go to the following links
to see state-centric Day One outlook graphics for Texas and Oklahoma:

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/public/state/images/TX_swody1.png
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/public/state/images/OK_swody1.png

*CHANGES TO WPC QPF TIMES*
Starting on July 15th, the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) is making
changes to the issuance times for their quantitative precipitation
forecasts. Get the details here
<http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notification/scn15-29qpf_timing.htm>

Rick


Rick Smith - Warning Coordination Meteorologist
National Weather Service - Norman Forecast Office
120 David L. Boren Blvd., Suite 2400
Norman, OK 73072