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Bad time for a thread (it's late EDT). But I'm going through WFO twitter activity during big storms.
There are offices that basically relying on bots. There are those who mix in bots and radar.
And there are a couple who stand out; who are unlike the others. And it shows.
There are offices that basically relying on bots. There are those who mix in bots and radar.
And there are a couple who stand out; who are unlike the others. And it shows.
Lets go to May 20. That was the high risk day. Things have gotten going. Watch at 1:45pm. Storms by 2:30pm. Most offices in this situation bury themselves in warnings and zoomed in radar loops around those warnings. And they stay there from beginning to end of the event.
But at 5:07pm, ~2-3 hours after the event started, @NWSNorman begins a 3-tweet thread with this:
It's a zoom out look as to what's going on. No graphic. That wouldn't be the point. "There's still a watch. Things could change in the next couple of hours." It tells the public what they can mentally prepare for. What to expect. That's so empowering.
Second tweet: The situation could ramp up soon and last into the evening. It's a re-establishment of expectations. At 5pm, a high risk day - it's a long wait from dawn to initiation. They didn't assume the public just remembered the morning forecast.
Third tweet. It's subtle, but do you see how they personalized it. They used the word "you." It's an instruction. It practically gives permission to shelter if threatened.
That wasn't the first tweet like it. This one from earlier is even more explicit. It doesn't say to shelter when a WARNING is issued. It says to shelter when you FEEL THREATENED. That's different. It's more personal. It's ok, and right, to act.
Giving this permission is something that might help short-circuit the process between hearing an alert, evaluating the situation, deciding what to do, and acting. We want people to do that as FAST as possible. This "permission" might shorten the evaluation and decision process.
Also, these aren't individual, stand-alone tweets. They're threaded. It re-emphasizes this is a zoomed out update. It gives the whole thing more significance. Sparingly used, short, but meaningful threads like this, even during an event, can be powerful.
2 - Between noon the day before and a half hour after initiation, I counted 9 tweets purely about preparation. I see WFOs sending one tweet about having multiple ways to get alerts. But Norman covered situations in home, out of home, traveling, flooding, bridges, WEAs, anxiety.
Good communication is more than just bot-generated tweets of warnings and radar. There are events where you can see the forecaster is just putting out radar loops hours before the first warning, purely out of their own anticipation. It's information. But is it the MOST helpful?
Please think beyond that. The occasional zoom-out may be what the public psychologically needs. It's exhausting during an event to just be always zoomed in on a map, flying hear to there, constantly hearing TAKE COVER, for hours. "Will the next zoom be to you? Who knows!"
Sports commentators reset the scene when they come back from commercial for a reason. We can do that, too. What's the big picture narrative? Can we remove feelings of randomness? Along the way, talk to individuals! Use pronouns, not just referring to people by city names.
Also, awareness does not always lead to preparedness. Or action. Awareness isn't empowering. IMO, our entire weather community needs to brainstorm on this across the board. Early adopter types are focused on this right now.
Please, get into the head of the public. What do they need to hear right now? Is a radar loop the best thing right now? Maybe yes. Many times, no. It's easy to compare accounts and see who is trying and who isn't. It's not subtle. /fin
