Using GIS to improve real-time severe weather verification

Geographic Information System (GIS) software has revolutionized verification of severe weather events in rural northeast Montana. ESRI™'s ArcGIS 9.1 ™, including ArcGIS Spatial Analyst™, Publisher™, and ArcReader™, software was installed in order to give network access to all operational staff during severe weather episodes. Specifically, land ownership maps layered with streams, roads, and other geo-locating information allows operational warning staff to quickly contact residents to verify severe storm parameters such as hail, wind, and flooding. Real-time verification using GIS will be compared to past years' statistics. Details on the use of GIS software and the equipment needed to employ storm verification techniques will be discussed. The use of data sets available through on-line libraries and how the data is incorporated in the warning verification process will also be described and illustrated. Finally, severe weather cases encountered in June 2005 will be reviewed to demonstrate the usefulness of GIS in severe weather operations.