Session 3A Social Scientific Findings From Five Years of VORTEX Southeast: What Have We Learned?

Monday, 13 January 2020: 2:00 PM-4:00 PM
151B (Boston Convention and Exhibition Center)
Host: 15th Symposium on Societal Applications: Policy, Research and Practice
Cochairs:
Jack R. Friedman, University of Oklahoma, Center for Applied Social Research, Norman, OK and Walker S. Ashley, University of Georgia, Climate Research Laboratory, Atmospheric Sciences Program, Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Beginning in 2015, NOAA has annually funded research focusing on the special meteorological challenges that accompany tornadoes and tornado genesis in the U.S. southeast. From the beginning, this initiative was built on the recognition that tornadoes in the southeast are often deadlier, not because there is something intrinsically different about tornadoes in this region, but, rather, because of the confluence of challenges regarding storm mode (i.e., QLCS) and timing (i.e., higher prevalence at night or during winter months) and social factors in the southeast (e.g., population density, housing stock, terrain features). In order to acknowledge the holistic nature of the challenge of protecting lives and property in the southeast in the face of tornado threats, NOAA has consistently encouraged and supported a wide range of social science research focusing on behavior, culture, knowledge, awareness, communication, risk perception, and vulnerabilities.

 

This session will bring together a range of presenters who have conducted social scientific research as part of the many years of VORTEX-SE research cycles in order to summarize their findings and begin to answer a number of questions, including: What are the critical social factors that make the U.S. southeast different from other parts of the country regarding severe weather? How have findings from this social scientific research been brought into conversation with operational or research-oriented meteorology? What can be learned from this research in the southeast that can be applied across the entire U.S. or even globally? What recommendations come out of this work to support NOAA’s mission to protect life and property? What are the next steps and next big questions/challenges we should be pursuing?

Papers:
2:00 PM
Introductory Remarks

2:30 PM
3A.2
Perception and Vulnerability Factors for Tornado Sheltering within Mobile and Manufactured Housing in Alabama and Mississippi
Kevin D. Ash, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL; and M. Egnoto, S. M. Strader, W. S. Ashley, D. B. Roueche, K. E. Klockow-McClain, D. Caplen, and M. Dickerson

2:45 PM
3A.3
Keeping Calm in the Chaos: An Examination of Forecaster Sense-Making and Partner Response to TORFFs during Hurricane Florence
Jennifer A. Spinney, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, CO; and J. Henderson, M. Bica, L. Palen, E. R. Nielsen, and J. Demuth
3:00 PM
3A.4
3:15 PM
3A.5
The Impact of Color-Coded Probabilistic Tornado Warnings on Risk Perceptions and Responses. Part I: Experiment
Susan Joslyn, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA; and S. Savelli, C. Qin, J. Demuth, R. Morss, and K. D. Ash
3:30 PM
3A.6
The Impact of Color-Coded Probabilistic Tornado Warnings on Risk Perceptions and Responses. Part II: Interviews
Julie L. Demuth, NCAR, Boulder, CO; and R. E. Morss, K. D. Ash, S. Savelli, S. Joslyn, and C. Qin
3:45 PM
3A.7A
Social Science in the VORTEX-SE: Connecting past, present and future research to transform outcomes for our communities
Justin Sharpe, Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, Norman, OK
- Indicates paper has been withdrawn from meeting
- Indicates an Award Winner