Oklahoma’s First-response Information Resource System using Telecommunications (OK-First) has been used for many years to provide education, training, connections, and follow-up support for public safety officials with emergency management responsibilities in Oklahoma. Public safety officials use OK-First training and Mesonet tools to plan and make decisions to save lives and property. However, like most public systems, little is known about user interactions with tools, decisions made, and estimated savings using a weather decision support system. This study used a mixed approach of instruments and methods to collect and analyze data from three key sources to assess the perceptions, beneficiaries, and applications of weather support systems for public safety officials. Results showed that a diverse set of tools were needed and used by public safety officials to make decisions in hazardous weather conditions. OK-First tools resulted in estimated self-reported cost savings of over $1.2 M for 12 months. This study provides a crucial step in determining user interactions with tools, training, and services to better understand weather decision support systems used during hazardous weather.

Equivalent temperature (TE), which incorporates both dry (surface air temperature, T) and moist heat content associated with atmospheric moisture, is a better indicator of overall atmospheric heat content compared to T alone. This paper investigates the impacts of different types of air masses on TE during the growing season (April–September). The study used data from the Kentucky Mesonet for this purpose. The growing season was divided into early (April–May), mid (June–July), and late (August–September). Analysis suggests that TE for moist tropical (MT) air mass was as high as 61 and 81 °C for the early and mid-growing season, respectively. Further analysis suggests that TE for different parts of the growing seasons were statistically significantly different from each other. In addition, TE for different air masses was also statistically significantly different from each other. The difference between TE and T (i.e. TE-T) is smaller under dry atmospheric conditions but larger under moist conditions. For example, in Barren County, the lowest difference (20–10 °C) was 10 °C. It was reported on 18 April 2010, a dry weather day. On the other hand, the highest difference for this site was 48 °C and was reported on 11 August 2010, a humid day.

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