Public Reaction to Impact Based Warnings During an Extreme Hail Event in Abilene, Texas

A powerful, supercell thunderstorm with hail up to the size of softballs and damaging winds impacted Abilene, Texas, during the Children's Art and Literacy festival and parade on June 12, 2014, and resulted in several minor injuries. This storm produced widespread damage to vehicles, homes, and businesses, costing an estimated 400 million dollars. More than 200 city vehicles sustained significant damage and Abilene Fire Station #4 was rendered uninhabitable.

In support of a larger National Weather Service (NWS) effort, the San Angelo Texas forecast office is part of an experiment to test Impact Based Warnings (IBW) that are designed to describe expected damage and how serious the weather threat will be “before it happens.” Effectiveness of the IBW text warning that was issued for this event will be assessed by analyzing responses collected via a web-based survey that was designed to collect feedback from local residents who were affected by the damaging wind and hail. A brief meteorological overview and analysis of radar signatures during the severe storm will be presented.