Weather Symbols—What Do They Mean?

We constructed an "on line" symbol survey to learn how the viewing public interprets the various weather symbols many of us use everyday. The survey consisted of 15 still graphics and animations with several choices for respondent answers. More than 2000 viewers took the survey and several sent on written comments as well. Many responses were what we expected for the given symbol/animation, but there were a number of surprising results. The survey, results and some conclusions of what we can learn from such surveys will be presented. We will also present our ideas for follow-up surveys using TV station weather homepages.