The flooding tragedy in Texas had a component common to nearly all recent weather-related disasters:
The weather predictions and warnings were excellent, but local governments, utilities, and other responsible parties did not use the excellent meteorological guidance effectively.
Similar poor use of skillful forecasts has occurred frequently and recently, such as the strong winds that produced massive fires in Maui and Los Angeles. Or the excellent precipitation forecasts for Hurricane Helene that were not effectively used to warn.
We should not feel too smug here in the Northwest.
During the past five years, hundreds have died in our region from meteorological conditions. From heat and cold. From trees falling during intense windstorms. Due to river and coastal flooding. Others have fallen from accidents on "black ice", while many have been sickened by wildfire smoke.
In virtually all of these cases, the forecasts were good to excellent, and lives could have been saved and damage avoided if the correct actions had been taken.
We need a better way to make both individuals and governments better aware of the nature of the meteorological threats.
Seattle could help lead the way.
Imagine an online website/smartphone app that would warn of all the major weather-related problems (see example below)
The integration could be done in a few months, allowing the City and local residents to enjoy state-of-science warnings and weather information.
It is important to remind folks in areas without cell service that the National Weather Service still maintains NOAA Weather Radar, which will beep and provide terse emergency weather information during dangerous periods.
Announcement
I could be a good time to be prepared for sure, the weather this year seems way out of whack, in the south sound area (Steamboat Island area ) this year we have had a cold dry spring and now a bone dry summer and I mean bone dry, also more wind then I can remember, we could be months away from any decent rain and that's a little frightening , not much we can do about it but be a proactive. Rain dances maybe? LOL
ReplyDeleteThere was some decent rain at the coast this week. Here's hoping you get some much needed rain soon.
DeleteUnfortunately we only had a light mist here that didn't Last long
DeleteThat's not good. And it doesn't look like any more significant rain is coming anywhere in Western Washington for the forseeable future. I wish you all the best in managing the drought you're experiencing, and hope that some decent rain finds its way to your area sooner rather than later.
DeleteI may have spoken too soon. Professor Mass just posted (today, 7/27) some good news on the rain front for Western Washington.
DeleteI can vouch for Snowatch being an invaluable asset in evaluating and decision making for full time motorcycling in Puget Sound. Snowatch in concert with other weather related data, such as relative humidity and dew points, allows me to lower my risk on snow and road icing days. Micro climates sometime rule :-) yet I've learned to raise my awareness and judgement. Good job, Cliff and team! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHey, Cliff! Have you had a chance to work with HRRRcast yet? I was interested to read that it was matching or beating the operational HRRR all the way out to 48 hours, yet because it's data-driven it's up to 1,000 times more computationally efficient -- it can be run on a laptop. Sounds like a big leap forward, and it's good to see NWS playing such a big role.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to access HRRRcast for our area?
DeleteThe soil in my grass-covered backyard (at a depth of 4-6" below ground surface) has now reached complete desiccation with no measurable moisture. This is the earliest I've observed such an occurrence and is about a month earlier than normal based on the data I've collected over the years for this parameter. Even during the historically dry 2023, it wasn't until 8/24 before the soil reached complete desiccation.
ReplyDeleteYeah damn it we need some rain!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info! My issue so far with emergencies in Greater Seattle is trying to get information by radio after my cell phone battery and laptop batteries have died. Specifically, I am referring to a 4-day power outage in Issaquah a couple decades ago after a severe ice storm downed major power lines and phone lines in Cascade foothills. Local suburban power lines are underground there, and previous power outages were short-lived, so it wasn't common for people to have generators. When I sought info about resources such as local shelters or at least a place to charge phone, using my emergency radio, every radio station referred listeners to their websites. Zero info was read over the air! My gas fireplace provided heat, but I wanted my phone charged. I walked a mile to the library, risking injury ranging from falling on ice to falling tree limbs, but my area of Issaquah was a ghost town with everything shut down. Finally, a bus heading to Seattle came by, and I rode it to downtown Seattle where everything was open as usual! Short of back-up power packs for phone, I am not sure of a solution to this problem, other than radio stations providing more info.
ReplyDeleteYou know FCC rules make radio and TV be able to broadcast over airwaves, why not cellular companies. We get amber alerts why not weather alerts. Seems to me this should be a simple fix. Now with new phones that can connect sattelite outside service area, can get them alerts too. But those who venture out of service areas always should check forecasts or maybe take weather radio with them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the FCC should, if they haven't already, require cellular companies to broadcast weather alerts directly to peoples' phones the way amber alerts are delivered.
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