People simply want to know, “Is it heading for me?”
After the massive tornado outbreak in Alabama and the southeastern US in 2011, Kim Klockow-McClain, Research Scientist and Team Lead of the Behavioral Insights Group at the National Severe Storms Laboratory, went to the region and talked with people about preparing for, and living through, the storms. In this episode of Wx Insights, Kim shares some of the stories she heard and how current weather communications research helps weather communicators.
Meteorologists are often focused on the storm. Our users are focused on their location on the map and, “Is it heading for me?” That shift in priority focus is key to more effective weather communication. For a storm, a cold front, a heatwave.
Links from this episode: WxDash, an interactive platform that provides access to data from the Extreme Weather and Society Project.
Audio Version
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