Weather information use and preferences in decision making during severe weather events in K-12 schools and institutions of higher education

This study presents preliminary findings of two distinct but complementary studies examining the sources, uses, and preferences of hazardous weather warnings and forecasts for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education (IHEs). Schools and IHEs are responsible for keeping their populations safe during severe weather, both presenting unique and complex challenges in emergency management due to large populations, hierarchical structures, and roles within the surrounding community. Understanding their uses of hazardous weather information and processes of decision-making during times of severe weather crisis will enhance the social relevancy of the development of new warning systems.

Through close collaboration between Social Science Woven into Meteorology and NOAA's Hazardous Weather Testbed, we monitored GIS overlays of school and IHE locations with National Weather Service warning polygons to determine case studies that were under warnings during the severe weather season of 2011. Schools and IHEs that experienced warnings were contacted post event, and key decision-makers were interviewed to answer the following research questions

1. What sources of information do schools and institutions of higher education access during severe weather events?

2. How and when do they utilize these sources in decision making?

3. What decision support tools would improve operations?

These research projects represent a collaboration between NOAA's Hazardous Weather Testbed Experimental Warning Program, NSSL's Warn-On-Forecast, the Social Science Woven Into Meteorology (SSWIM) program within the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorlogical Studies (CIMMS) at the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Oklahoma's Department of Geography.