NWS Hazardous Weather Terminology

The hazardous weather terminology used by the National Weather Service has slowly evolved since the beginning of a U.S. weather service in the 1800s. Use of the terms watch and warning has proved to be the most controversial aspect of the present warning system. Very little research has been conduct...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 1978-12, Vol.59 (12), p.1583-1588
Main Authors: Pifer, Bob, Mogil, H. Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Disasters
Flash floods
Hurricanes
Meteorology
Storms
Terminology
Thunderstorms
Warnings
Weather
Wind
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The hazardous weather terminology used by the National Weather Service has slowly evolved since the beginning of a U.S. weather service in the 1800s. Use of the terms watch and warning has proved to be the most controversial aspect of the present warning system. Very little research has been conducted to determine if the public understands hazardous weather terminology. However, public surveys to date seem to indicate that the general public at least understands the difference between watch and warning. More surveys of the public are needed in order to establish an optimum weather warning system.
ISSN:0003-0007
1520-0477
DOI:10.1175/1520-0477(1978)059<1583:NHWT>2.0.CO;2