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Items 2007 Severe weather warning precision targeted by experiment
Early and precise warnings of severe weather hazards are the target of the Experimental Warning Program (EWP), part of the 2007 NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed Spring Experiment now underway in Norman, OK. NSSL researchers and their collaborators hope to detect and predict mesoscale and smaller weather hazards on time scales of minutes to a few hours, and on spatial scales from several counties to fractions of counties.
Teams participating in the Experimental Warning Program are focusing on the shorter-term convective weather warning needs of forecasters by testing new hazardous weather services, products, and applications in a real-time operational setting. Successful results will help improve the skill of severe weather warnings issued by the National Weather Service by reducing false alarms and allowing warnings to be more focused on the people who are truly in harms way.
Researchers and forecasters will investigate new weather surveillance tools, such as the phased array radar and 3-D Lightning Mapping Array, and the National Science Foundation-sponsored CASA radars. They will also examine new scientific concepts that will make severe weather warnings much more precise in space and time.
Background: The Experimental Warning Program is part of NOAA’s Hazardous Weather Testbed Spring Experiment and is focused on detecting and predicting mesoscale and smaller weather hazards on time scales of minutes to a few hours, and on spatial domains from several counties to fractions of counties.
Significance: An effective NWS severe weather forecast and warning program is dependent on providing the public and others with critical weather information needs with sufficient advance notice of impending hazardous weather.
5/21/07