Localized Tornado Warnings!

[rdale]

Fro May 1, 2006 Aviation Week & Space Technology:

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A new US Air Force Space Command squadron ... will conduct experimental space-based demonstrations and pathfinder projects.

[...]

For instance, the center is looking at ways to provide focused storm alerts or warnings ... through a program called "State Warn." Government networks and the Internet will be used to alert citizens of a particular municipality or county that a tornado is approaching - but to a much higher fidelity than is now available. Rather than send an entire county's residents into storm shelters via blanket tornado siren alerts, Internet-based radar images of a specific storm cell might necessitate only those in its path taking precautions.

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I hope this is just a non-met savvy person writing a technical article. I realize NWS polygon warnings are not doing the job they were intended, I don't think "space test pilots" should be using Internet radar imagery to fine tune tornado warnings! Hopefully NWS will get polygons working, or another source of warning info utilized, before this hits the streets. Has anyone heard of it before?

- Rob

 

[Kiel Ortega]

Rather than send an entire county's residents into storm shelters via blanket tornado siren alerts, Internet-based radar images of a specific storm cell might necessitate only those in its path taking precautions.
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What? Isn't that available now with radar images at any number of websites.

Further, it's not the NWS that blankets counties with tornado sirens, it's EOCs (though some go off the polygons on which sirens to sound). More than likely this is a military program to help with the military base operations/preparedness of severe weather

 

[rdale]

Actually just found a press release on USAF's site - this is clearly intended at more than military:

"Web Warn is one example. The program, originally intended for military use, is being expanded and renamed State Warn. The expanded program will offer weather warnings to counties and municipalities via the Internet and give them the opportunity to warn their citizenry, Colonel Chodzko said. "

 

[Damon Poole]

From what I've read here so far, I seriously doubt that this will change any of the NWS's public tornado warning system at all. I suspect that this will be a supplemental tool, rather than a replacement for NWS warnings. It really sounds like it's an additional weather dissemination service designed for EM's. Here's a link to the article, which actually is about the Space Warfare Center: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123017086

Actually just found a press release on USAF's site - this is clearly intended at more than military:

"Web Warn is one example. The program, originally intended for military use, is being expanded and renamed State Warn. The expanded program will offer weather warnings to counties and municipalities via the Internet and give them the opportunity to warn their citizenry, Colonel Chodzko said. "
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[Eric Stoner]

I wonder, what was the intention of the polygon warning boxes? I didn't even really hear of it until last year. I guess that just goes to show you that for all practical purposes, people probably haven't heard of polygon warning boxes.

 

[rdale]

The goal was to automate sending stuff to pagers / cellphones / etc. like Barons and other vendors do now. However most offices don't utilize the full features yet because HQ still verifies based on counties.