Toward the First ASCE AMS Joint Standard on Wind Speed Estimation in Severe Storms

The introduction of the EF Scale in 2007 has allowed a significant improvement in the resolution and repeatability of post-tornado damage analysis that serve multiple interests ranging from improving tornado climatology to risk analysis and building standards. Yet, its use by damage survey experts have revealed issues and inconsistencies. For example, the tree damage indicators were based on whether a tree was a softwood or a hardwood whereas the latest research shows they should've been categorized by trunk diameter and then by species. Elsewhere there are several inconsistencies where similarly constructed buildings exhibit different wind speed to damage relationships. Given these concerns, and an opportunity to make revisions, a stakeholder's group of users and experts convened and submitted a proposal to develop an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) compliant standards committee under the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2015. The committee's goal is to develop a standard that improves the EF Scale, and to add additional methods for estimating wind speed via real-time measurements (radar and in situ ) and post-storm evidence (forensic engineering and forest damage/treefall pattern analysis). The ASCE Wind Speed Estimation (ASCE WSE) committee has since become a co-branded committee with the AMS, following the signing of an MOU between the two organizations. This committee represents broad interests in the meteorological, engineering, architectural, insurance, risk analysis, and forest ecology communities. The new standard required developing new science and converting subsequent new results into standards language through a consensus balloting process. We have now reached a point where soon a draft standard will be produced and be made available for public comment. AMS members will benefit from this co-branded standard through opportunities to participate in committee meetings and to submit public comments on the draft standard, as well as being offered the option to purchase the final, published standard through the AMS. Furthermore, the AMS representation in the standard reinforces the stakeholder's engagement in this process of research to operations. And it gives the meteorological and engineering communities a path to evolve the standard to keep up with the latest science on a regular basis.