Will Simplified Winter Storm Messaging Help?

Motorists struggle with a slippery hill in St. Albans,
Vermont during a heavy winter storm in 2017. The
National Weather Service plans to streamline
how winter storm warnings are issued this season
to make them less confusing to the public. 

 Messaging is complicated when a big weather hazard looms. Or even a small weather hazard, for that matter. 

I mentioned this issue not long ago in this here blog thingy concerning Hurricane Ian. Evacuations ahead of the storm didn't seem adequate. I don't think even emergency managers, never mind the general public, fully understood the nuances of the warnings. 

On a (usually) much less dangerous scale, National Weather Service offices in the Northeast, including Vermont, recently tried simplifying autumn and spring frost advisories and warnings to make them less confusing. 

Now many of these same National Weather Service offices, including our very own headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, are taking a crack at making winter storm warnings less confusing. 

Yes, yes, I know, many of us (me included!) are not quite ready to deal with snowstorms. But winter weather will come soon enough. 

In the past, the National Weather Service in South Burlington would issue a winter storm warning if we expected six inches of new snow within 12 hours or nine inches of snow within 24 hours. 

One reason this can be confusing is winter storms can be quick or long-lasting. These warnings would be a little less perplexing if we just de-emphasized the time frame approach to storms. So, this winter, you'll hear a winter storm warning if meteorologists expect seven or more inches of snow from the storm. Doesn't matter if that seven inches comes down in five minutes or over two days. 

The decision by meteorologists to issue a winter storm warning will depend on the expected impacts of the oncoming snow. 

Other areas covered by different National Weather  Service offices will have slightly different criteria, based essentially on what people are used to in winter weather.

Northern New Hampshire and northern Maine will get a winter storm warning if the expected system will drop eight inches or more of snow. Most of central and southern New England get a similar warning if six inches or more is on the way. 

For the record, there will be no winter storm warnings in Vermont this week. Or next, for that matter.