Connecting the Dots: A Communications Model of the North Texas Integrated Warning Team during the 15 May 2013 Tornado Outbreak

Abstract

On 15 May 2013, 19 tornadoes occurred across north and central Texas, killing 6, injuring over 50, and causing more than $100 million in property damage. The majority of the impacts to life and property were the direct result of category-3 and category-4 enhanced Fujita scale (EF-3 and EF-4) tornadoes that affected the communities of Cleburne and Granbury, Texas. This study focuses on an examination of the north Texas integrated warning team (IWT) communications through a thorough analysis of interactions between IWT members during this event. Communications from all members of the IWT were collected and organized so that a quantitative analysis of the IWT communications network could be performed. The results of this analysis were used to identify strengths and weaknesses of current IWT communications to improve the consistency of hazardous weather messaging for future high-impact weather events. The results also show how effectively communicating within an IWT leads not only to more consistent messaging but also to broader dissemination of hazardous weather information to the public. The analysis techniques outlined in this study could serve as a model for comprehensive studies of IWTs across the country.

Eyes of the Storm: How Citizen Scientists Contribute to Government Forecasting and Risk Communication

“…Citizen scientists' observations of the physical environment in their communities aid government scientists in verifying technology-driven forecasting models; the success of citizen scientists highly depends on ''the spatial distribution of the participants'' (Gharesifard et al 2017, p. 382). When spotters are able to supply ground information from key locations, they can be vital in achieving the NWS's mission of protecting life and property (McCarthy 2002) and quickly disseminating severe weather information to the public (Cavanaugh et al 2016).…”

“…This perspective holds that these relationships are built and negotiated through communication (Kent and Taylor 1998;Yang and Taylor 2015). Prior research has noted the relational benefits of volunteer science projects for citizens and government scientists (e.g., Cavanaugh et al 2016), but has not examined deeply how relationship dynamics affect the success of citizen science projects.…”

“…Citizen scientists in the severe weather domain are rarely studied. However, ethnographic work by Daipha (2015) suggests that government scientists at the NWS build relationships with entities that can communicate their messages to the general public, including citizens who serve as weather spotters (Cavanaugh et al 2016). NWS government scientists typically rely on emergency managers and local broadcast media affiliates to communicate their weather products to local residents.…”

“…Prior research on citizen science groups in meteorology shows that these groups can be instrumental in completing records on tropical cyclone intensity (Hennon et al 2015;Knapp et al 2016), providing in situ observations to improve precipitation algorithms (Elmore et al 2015), and helping hydrologists create improved river forecasts (Reges et al 2016). Prior research also indicated that citizen spotters provide important data that can help government forecasters rapidly communicate severe weather information to the public (Cavanaugh et al 2016). Our study supports prior research, but also extends it to include citizen scientists as peer-to-peer weather communicators.…”

Development of a Human–Machine Mix for Forecasting Severe Convective Events

“…EMs and broadcast meteorologists used the experimental EDD to make simulated real-time decisions (e.g., activate sirens, preposition personnel, initiate programming cutins). Additionally, an internal NWS instant messaging program for real-time communication with Integrated Warning Team (IWT; e.g., Cavanaugh et al 2016) partners (NWSChat; NOAA/NWS 2016), was used as a means to communicate information from EMs and Karstens et al (2015).…”