Next Generation Warnings
How Smartphones Can Dramatically Improve The
Severe Weather Warning Process
Slide 2
Slide 2 text
Today I’m Not A Front End Developer
• FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY 2008
• BACHELORS OF SCIENCE: METEOROLOGY
• BACHELORS OF SCIENCE: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
• MINOR: CHEMISTRY
• MINOR: MATHEMATICS
• MINOR: PHYSICS
• CERTIFICATION: SKYWARN STORM SPOTTER
Slide 3
Slide 3 text
Warnings Prior To 2007
• Issued by county
• Generally for 45 minutes
• We’re all familiar with this concept
Slide 4
Slide 4 text
Warnings Since 2007
• Counties no longer used
• Forecasters draw a polygon over the
storm’s path
• The science has gotten advanced enough
we can be more precise than large county
areas
Slide 5
Slide 5 text
No content
Slide 6
Slide 6 text
Nobody uses the new system.
(Yet!)
Slide 7
Slide 7 text
Nobody Sees The New Warnings
• TV stations still show warnings by overall counties,
not polygons
• NOAA Weather Radios are incapable of handling
polygon warnings
• Nobody takes advantage of 21st century technologies
Slide 8
Slide 8 text
The science of meteorology is
outpacing our ability to
communicate it.
Slide 9
Slide 9 text
The 4/27/11 Outbreak
•359 tornadoes
•Four EF-5 tornadoes
•346 people killed
•$11 billion in damage
Slide 10
Slide 10 text
Every fatal tornado had
at least 22 minutes of
warning lead time.
Slide 11
Slide 11 text
How Did 350 People Die?!
• Forecast models predicted a major
outbreak 5 days ahead
• Tornado warnings were extremely
accurate and issued with substantial
lead time
• TV coverage was excellent with
several tornadoes broadcast live on
tower cams
Slide 12
Slide 12 text
No content
Slide 13
Slide 13 text
What Went Wrong
• Two waves of storms 6 hours
apart
• Warnings so far advance people
ignored them!
• Adobe Flash: nobody could stream
coverage on their phones
Slide 14
Slide 14 text
What We Can Do Today
•We can use smartphones to
warn people on a very
specific basis right now!
•More accurate than any other
medium for conveying
warnings.