New Experimental Storm Warning System to Be Tested This Spring

An experimental National Weather Service (NWS) warning enhancement will be used across much of the central U.S. this thunderstorm season beginning on April 1. This is an expansion of a smaller NWS experiment that began in Kansas and Missouri in 2012.

The Impact Based Warning (IBW) experimental product is an effort to better communicate severe weather threats within National Weather Service warnings. While the basic function of Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado warnings will remain the same, additional enhanced information will be provided within the warning to provide additional expected "impact" information.

The goals are to provide more information through the warnings in order to facilitate improved public response and decision making, and to better meet societal needs in the most life-threatening weather events. This effort is in response to key findings from recent service assessments of devastating tornadoes in 2011, particularly the EF-5 tornado in Joplin, MO.

For more information regarding the IBW experiment go to .http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crh/?n=2013_ibw_info to view a short video on the subject.