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  • After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Ch-Ch-Changes, Goodbye Wind Chill Watches, Warnings, & Advisories

Joined
May 21, 2011
Messages
261
Location
North-central Nebraska
Wind chill watches and warnings are now extreme cold watches and warnings, respectively; a wind chill advisory is now a cold weather advisory, per NWS.
They say, "These changes seek to clarify that cold can be dangerous with or without wind, addressing a common misconception that extreme cold is only tied to colder temperatures when there is wind." Hmm, I didn't realize that was a problem.
And further, "Dangerously cold weather can accompany or follow wintry precipitation, and the cold messaging can be overshadowed by the wintry precipitation."
Really? I didn't know about overshadowing either. I'd be curious to know some of your thoughts.




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There is a difference though w/ extreme cold w/ or w/o wind chill. It can be 0 F and a calm wind. That is much more tolerable for at least a short time say if you just happen to run out with a light jacket on for a minute, than 25 F w/ winds 25G40 mph. When the wind is strong, that wind chill cold stings into you immediately, and all you want to do is run back inside!

And really, some people are a lot more tolerable to cold than others, and can do just fine outdoors for a long time in extreme cold conditions. People do that w/ winter recreation and sports all the time. And if you are bundled up correctly, many do just fine outside w/ minimal risk. So telling us to limit time outside is a blanket statement and seems rather restrictive messaging. Stating something like, "caution is advised when going outside" is better overall. It is suggestion not directly telling (ordering) people what to do.

And it doesn't take extreme cold to get frostbite or hypothermia. Heck, it doesn't even have to be cold at all to get hypothermia (soaking wet at 50 F will do it in a short time).
 
There is a difference though w/ extreme cold w/ or w/o wind chill.
Indeed. I think giving a "cold shoulder" to wind chill loses a level of specificity. Wind chill is its own separate entity; strong breezes can readily evaporate water from the skin resulting in evaporative cooling and a feeling of chill. Additionally, very shallow layers of body warmth next to the skin get disrupted, blow away, enhancing the cold feeling. So IMO, the distinction between these two types of cold situations remains important.
 
William Monfredo said:
Boris Konon said:
There is a difference though w/ extreme cold w/ or w/o wind chill.
Indeed. I think giving a "cold shoulder" to wind chill loses a level of specificity. Wind chill is its own separate entity
Exactly what I was thinking.
Also to point out that wind chill is dangerous to human (and animal) life even if the temperature isn't all that cold, where as 'extreme cold' (as in temperature) is dangerous to life, and can also be dangerous to as well infrastructure whether there is wind or not.
 
I’m all for continuous improvement in weather communication, including simplifying where possible, but I’m not sure this qualifies. And sometimes consistency is better than tinkering like this, which just causes confusion. I think wind chill is its own thing, because someone seeing a 30 degree temperature thinks “that’s not that cold,” but if there’s a 40 mph wind accompanying it I’d want to know before venturing out. Is that now just captured under “extreme cold”? That makes no sense either, because if I’m inside and not going anywhere, why do I want to just hear about an “extreme cold warning”, which should be saved for truly cold temps that can affect even those indoors, such as if part of vulnerable populations that lack heat, or people that just need to make sure their pipes don’t freeze. In other words, I think it’s a bad idea to lose the nuance of cold only because of wind chill (temps not all that cold), vs extreme cold even without wind, vs the combination of the two.
 
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