TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

New Storm Warning System To Narrow Target Areas

ADVERTISEMENT

By JAY REEVES, The Associated Press

Published: September 19, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The National Weather Service is revamping the way it has issued severe weather warnings for decades with a new system that marks a geographic bull's eye where a storm will hit.

The system, which goes into effect Oct. 1, switches from alerts based on county lines to notices aimed at specific communities, weather service officials said Tuesday. Using radar and computer modeling programs, the system is meant to predict the moment a storm will hit a community or even certain crossroads.

Known as storm-based warnings, the new alerts could reduce a warning area from thousands of square miles to a few hundred square miles, experts said.

'A storm-based warning focuses on a storm itself and the geographic area that might be affected by it,' said Eli Jacks, a meteorologist at weather service headquarters in suburban Washington. 'We can really reduce the number of people being warned by reducing that geographic area.'

The new system initially will be limited to warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, floods and marine hazards. It will be expanded to include other threats such as extreme heat.

Tornado forecasting began in the late 1940s. The government began issuing weather warnings in the 1950s using storm spotters with radios and phones. Warnings usually have been issued on a county-by-county basis ever since.

Under the new system, warnings will be issued for specific storms and alert people who might be in the path.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT