Plans and Activities at the National Severe Storms Laboratory Directed at Achieving the Goals and Milestones of the Tornado Warning Improvement and Extension Program

In April 2017, Congress passed Public Law 115-25, known as the Weather Act, which authorized creation of a Tornado Warning Improvement and Extension Program (TWIEP). The goal of the TWIEP is to reduce the loss of life and economic impacts from tornadoes through improved and extended tornado forecasts, including the warnings of tornadoes beyond 60 minutes (currently <14 min since 2004). The coauthors of this presentation have led the development of a joint OAR-NWS plan for the execution of this program. This presentation will discuss the details of that plan in terms of specific research, development, and technology transfer activities, as well as corresponding resources and timelines, necessary to achieve the program goal. There are three interconnected science and technology components being developed within NOAA to achieve this goal: Improved observations, including advanced radar technology and data from new geostationary satellites; high-resolution numerical weather prediction model ensemble systems; and a modern, optimized approach to communicate risk that is informed by social sciences to empower society to make protective action decisions and maximize the effectiveness of these forecast improvements.

These interconnected goals are strongly linked with NOAA’s Warn-On-Forecast (WoF) program, VORTEX-Southeast initiatives, the Multi-function Phased Array Radar (MPAR) program, and the FACETs (Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats) paradigm. All four programs are being led by NSSL in partnership with the NWS and other OAR laboratories. This talk will present an update on progress made towards the TWIEP short-term (5-year) and long-term (10-year) goals and milestones of the program. The talk will describe the relevant advances in radar, satellite, modeling, warning concepts, and testbeds which support the goals of the TWIEP.