The NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, along with several other partners, hosts the annual National Severe Weather Workshop (NSWW). The NSWW is a three-day meeting of members of the Integrated Warning Team (IWT; National Weather Service forecasters, broadcast meteorologists and emergency managers) along with researchers, practitioners and enthusiasts from both the private and public sectors. One overarching goal of the NSWW is to facilitate enhanced communications among IWT members.

In 2006, the NSWW organizers desired to bring an interactive and experiential learning environment to the workshop. In addition, some NSWW partners had experience in developing preparedness exercises for emergency managers and first responders, while other partners had previously designed displaced real-time simulations for NWS forecasters using the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) contained within the Weather Event Simulator. As a result, the NSWW committee decided to include a role-playing scenario in the workshop.

The scenario consisted of three separate, but synchronized, displaced real-time simulations of operations by an emergency operations center, a TV station, and the NWS during an actual weather event. Workshop participants were assigned into one of the three roles. Each simulation featured synchronized playback of radar and other relevant weather data along with field reports. Communications were facilitated through a variety of mechanisms, including but not limited to handheld radio, a simulated NWS product feed, and a closed-circuit TV broadcast.

This manuscript reports on the technical designs of the 2006 and 2007 editions of the scenario, including learning objectives, case selection, and the application of and linkages between three separate simulation systems. The discussion includes participant feedback collected through evaluations, some aspects of adult pedagogy, and future plans.