The Pathfinder project was initiated in 2014 as a pilot project across four western States (California, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming) to document current State DOT interactions and working relationships with the weather enterprise (both NWS and private sector). The focus was on the I-80 corridor which represents a mix of metropolitan, vulnerable populations/underserved communities and serves as a main commercial trucking route. The team documented best practices across the agencies to disseminate consistent messages about the weather and its impact on the roads, and the way in which the messages proactively prepared travelers to change departure times, cancel trips, choose alternate routes, or select different modes of transportation in response to adverse weather conditions.

Although unintentionally, the initial focus of the Pathfinder Project was on Winter Weather, but the Project also includes mitigating hazardous traveler due to fog, smoke, wildfires, blowing dust, heavy precipitation and strong winds.

There are many examples across the country of highly beneficial partnerships spawned by the Pathfinder Project. Visibility of these efforts will inspire and lead others within the weather enterprise to spread the Pathfinder Project nationwide. Not only new and unparalleled changes have arisen because of climate change, but also new and unparalleled probabilistic messaging has evolved which can better communicate risk to the public and cost/loss modeling to the weather enterprise in the uncertain climate that lies ahead.

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