[Skywarn] Hazard Simplification Project: Winter Warning Consolidation Survey

[Lloyd Colston]

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/winterwarning



Hazard Simplification Project: Winter Warning Consolidation Survey
Introduction and Consent

On Oct. 1, 2017, the National Weather Service (NWS) Hazard Simplification Project reduced the number of winter weather hazard messages (products) and reformatted the product text within these messages. We refer to the reduction in the number of messages as "consolidation".


Specifically, we consolidated the previous variety of winter-related Advisories and Watches into one Winter Weather Advisory headline and one Winter Storm Watch headline, respectively. Now, to assess the extent to which NWS should apply the consolidation approach for winter precipitation, we are now seeking feedback on options for a possible consolidation of NWS' current Warning products.

The current suite of winter precipitation warning products includes Winter Storm Warning, Ice Storm Warning, and Blizzard Warning. Two options are offered as a means of possible consolidation:

Option 1: Consolidate to one Winter Storm Warning product with pertinent hazard information within the “What” bullet of the product text.  

Option 2: Consolidate to one Winter Storm Warning product but preserve the hazard type (i.e. snow, ice) in the headline. This part of the survey will propose four Warning headlines shown below. 

“Winter Storm Warning: (for*) Mixed Precipitation” 
“Winter Storm Warning: (for) Accumulating Snow” 
“Winter Storm Warning: (for) Significant Icing” 
“Winter Storm Warning: (for) Blizzard Conditions”

*For Option 2, the presentation of the headlines can be flexible - a colon can be used after "Winter Storm Warning" OR it could be read as "Winter Storm Warning for Blizzard Conditions".


It is important to note that a "third" option still remains - the Winter Warning (precipitation) products would remain unchanged with no further consolidation. 

In this survey you will see a series of product examples. The winter weather products as they are created today will be shown first, followed by the consolidated product examples based on the same information. 

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 15 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other suggestions for reducing this burden to: HazSimp at noaa.gov

Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subjected to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number (0648-0342).




Lloyd Colston, KC5FM 
Ark City, KS