Bracing for Impact: NWS Partner Feedback on Impact-based Tornado Warning Messages

Looking for input on how the National Weather Service (NWS) Impact-Based Warning (IBW) system is affecting public response and decision-making, ERG conducted focus groups with 126 emergency managers (EMs) and 27 media partners (primarily broadcast meteorologists) in the spring of 2016. The focus groups were held in four states (North Carolina, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Alabama), which were each chosen for their varying experiences with severe weather, as well as for the variety of storm types in their region. ERG sought to understand how EMs and media partners perceive storm severity to gather potential alternative words to express the IBW paradigm, and to acquire feedback on how EMs and the media use and communicate with the IBW system. To understand what messages the public is hearing, we explored the ways in which EMs and the media perceive, and subsequently communicate levels of severity and urgency of action. We also evaluated the current IBW impact statements and tag names, which included gathering suggestions for improvements, primarily focusing on new language. Findings and next steps will be discussed in this presentation.