One of the topics of discussion at my office's winter workshop today was winter storm watches, warnings, and advisories (winter WWA, I'll call it). This isn't the first time we've talked about this as a group. I've always been big on products like that, but in the changing landscape of communication and messaging, I'm not so sure where I land now.
It's no secret that not all NWS products are understood correctly. I remember talking to my sister one time about a winter storm that was headed her way. I mentioned that she was under a Winter Storm Warning. She said something to the effect of, "Oh, but it's just a warning, so that's not too bad, right?" (she had always thought an advisory was worse than a warning). Who does she think she is not knowing that! I mean, how hard can it be to remember that??? The better question might be who am I to think that everyone fully comprehends that? In my mind, it seems like a simple concept. But, then again, I'M the one with the Meteorology degree...I'M the one regularly contemplating impacts and criteria. She has no idea what her local office's criteria are. Should she?
I don't think I've ever thought people should know our (the NWS') criteria. Heck, I don't even remember all of our criteria. I have an ops notebook dedicated to that very thing. If I'm being honest, though, there is probably a part of me that has expected people to at least understand the winter WWA difference. It seems like such a simple concept (says the Meteorologist). I don't know where the disconnect is, but something leads many people to repeatedly ask for clarification on the issue. Perhaps there's something important there.
With social media and SOOO many different ways to get information nowadays, there continues to be a push for improved and effective communication. One way to improve communication is to avoid confusion where possible. If the winter watch/warning/advisory distinction is causing confusion, maybe one solution is to avoid the mention of those products where possible. Think about the earlier conversation with my sister. What if I had just started the conversation with, "Hey, looks like ya'll are going to get 6-12" of snow tomorrow." Our conversation would have been shorter and less confusing.
My sister has three kids...all of which are in school. For her, 6-12" likely means no school and that someone needs to be home to watch the little rascals. THAT'S what matters to her. At the core, she probably could care less about whether she is under an advisory or warning...she just wants to know if the kids are staying home.
This is not an argument for, or against, the removal of winter WWA. As I understand the current state of the weather enterprise and how we communicate, there is still a place for those products. It just seems that our forward-facing message for the public, and likely even our partners, should be the potential or expected amounts, impacts, timing, etc. In time, maybe major changes to winter WWA will be more effective and is something the NWS Hazard simplification project is working hard to address going forward.
The challenge will still be how to best manage time spent on winter WWA
decisions vs other aspects of messaging in order to best set people up
for success as they contemplate important decisions with each winter
event. I'm still working through finding that balance. For now, I suppose I have landed on focusing most of my attention/effort on the science of the forecast and how that drives the forward-facing message (social media graphics, SitReps, briefings, etc) while at the same time not completely ignoring the role winter WWA have in the process. What about you? Where do you see winter WWA fitting in with messaging and how it is best utilized going forward?
P.S. My blog was never meant to be a let-me-tell-you-how-it-is kind of deal. I'm hoping any post I make starts conversations, whether I am ever involved in them or not. Writing these posts has helped me think through the challenges we face and I hope it does the same for others.
Showing posts with label watches and warnings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watches and warnings. Show all posts
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
The Best Service Starts with Weakness
One of my favorite tasks in the NWS is working radar. I enjoy the
challenge of figuring out what storms are, or will be, doing and how to
best communicate those threats to people (through warning vs. not
warning decisions, what tags to use, and so on). Ironically, though,
working radar also happens to be the task that I most often deal with
some anxiety about. Typing that last sentence is difficult for me and I
keep thinking through ways to word it in a way that sounds the least
negative. That wouldn't be very honest of me, so I'll just leave it as
is. Oh, the joy of weaknesses and struggles. Can I get an 'amen!'?! No
takers? Didn't think so.
As a general rule, I struggle with being open and honest with co-workers regarding my weak areas. I subscribe to the 'honesty is the best policy' idea, but really struggle to put that into practice sometimes. The past year here at the NWS Wichita office (hard to believe it has been a year already!) has challenged me a lot in this area of honesty. What I've come to realize is that my struggle with being honest with others actually starts with the struggle to be honest with myself.
At my first NWS
office (Great Falls, MT), I had very little anxiety when working radar. A
lot of people in the office didn't want to work radar, which gave me
lots of opportunities to gain experience and confidence. You'd think
that confidence would follow me here to Kansas, but it didn't quite work
out that way. In Montana, I was warning for small towns and cows. But
now I am warning for a much larger population. The city of Wichita,
alone, has more people than the entire NWS Great Falls' CWA. The
magnitude of severe weather is different here as well, especially
regarding the higher frequency of tornadoes and the significant threat
to life and property that that threat, alone, carries. There are simply
more people in my current CWA to be "hit". Radar is radar, though. It's
not like dBZ values have a different meaning here. CC still drops with
debris, Dual-Pol data still reveals large hail, tornadoes, and heavy
rain processes. The only thing that changed was my mindset (stressful vs
not stressful) towards working radar.
I didn't want to admit this and for months I kept trying to hide it...from myself. Which, if you think about it, is kind of a silly goal, and yet it is a very real problem. The truth is, I got some great radar experience while in Montana, but still needed more. I didn't want to need more. I wanted to walk into ICT a confident radar operator, being the go-to guy in severe events. I wanted to be trusted at any point in any event. It simply did not work out that way.
A year in, I have gained additional experience and my confidence is coming back. But, it's still not to the level I want to be at in order to provide the best possible service I can. Part of what has helped me is finally coming to terms with my struggle. I admitted it to myself...I still need improvement on radar. It took me long enough to admit that, but now it is time to be honest with others - this blog post is a part of that and has been a year in the making! In a strange way, working on this post has actually helped me feel more confident. Not that I magically have things all figured out, but now when tasked with working radar, I have one less weight on my shoulder - the weight of acting like I have it all together. Whether anyone in my office ever sees this post, the simple act of typing it out, and making it public, is a huge step even in just being honest with myself.
On a side note, I somewhat comically think back to the first time I was tasked with radar here at ICT. Man, I was so nervous that I was struggling even with the less-visible SPS (a far cry from the confident radar guy I was back in Montana). At one point, the Lead Forecaster I was working with nicely remarked, "You know, it's ok to issue an SPS". I appreciate the grace is in his patience. I have come a long way since that day, but it sure was a low point for me.
So, what about you? Are there any weaknesses or struggles that deep down you know are there, but don't want to admit it? Maybe it isn't even a weakness, per-say...maybe you don't like forecasting or public briefings, but are afraid to admit it. Maybe you don't mind being open with others, but fear their response. I totally understand the concern. I'm not saying you go into work today and draft up an all-hands email about every struggle. Maybe for now you simply need to be honest with yourself.
The beauty here is that the admission of weakness is the beginning of wisdom.
Convincing ourselves that a weakness or struggle doesn't exist, or isn't that big of a deal, can cause us to miss important learning opportunities. Consider this as well...what you learn through your weakness now, could play a vital role in you helping someone else through a similar weakness down the road. Just the simple fact that you are not the only one with a certain struggle can be encouraging!
Now, I will say, being honest with others may open the door to less-than-receptive responses and I don't want to ignore that possibility. Even in great working environments, there are often one or two that may give people a hard time for showing, or sharing, struggles. If one imperfect individual cannot accept someone else's imperfection...well, that is on them. I know this doesn't ease the fear of a negative response, but I do still believe in the importance of being open with others at times. Start with yourself, then consider opening up to at least a few others.
We ALL have weaknesses and struggles. There are no perfect Meteorologists. If we're honest about our weakness and patient with others', we can all work together to provide the best service possible. If you want to set yourself, and others, up for success, then start with honesty.
As a general rule, I struggle with being open and honest with co-workers regarding my weak areas. I subscribe to the 'honesty is the best policy' idea, but really struggle to put that into practice sometimes. The past year here at the NWS Wichita office (hard to believe it has been a year already!) has challenged me a lot in this area of honesty. What I've come to realize is that my struggle with being honest with others actually starts with the struggle to be honest with myself.
I didn't want to admit this and for months I kept trying to hide it...from myself. Which, if you think about it, is kind of a silly goal, and yet it is a very real problem. The truth is, I got some great radar experience while in Montana, but still needed more. I didn't want to need more. I wanted to walk into ICT a confident radar operator, being the go-to guy in severe events. I wanted to be trusted at any point in any event. It simply did not work out that way.
A year in, I have gained additional experience and my confidence is coming back. But, it's still not to the level I want to be at in order to provide the best possible service I can. Part of what has helped me is finally coming to terms with my struggle. I admitted it to myself...I still need improvement on radar. It took me long enough to admit that, but now it is time to be honest with others - this blog post is a part of that and has been a year in the making! In a strange way, working on this post has actually helped me feel more confident. Not that I magically have things all figured out, but now when tasked with working radar, I have one less weight on my shoulder - the weight of acting like I have it all together. Whether anyone in my office ever sees this post, the simple act of typing it out, and making it public, is a huge step even in just being honest with myself.
On a side note, I somewhat comically think back to the first time I was tasked with radar here at ICT. Man, I was so nervous that I was struggling even with the less-visible SPS (a far cry from the confident radar guy I was back in Montana). At one point, the Lead Forecaster I was working with nicely remarked, "You know, it's ok to issue an SPS". I appreciate the grace is in his patience. I have come a long way since that day, but it sure was a low point for me.
So, what about you? Are there any weaknesses or struggles that deep down you know are there, but don't want to admit it? Maybe it isn't even a weakness, per-say...maybe you don't like forecasting or public briefings, but are afraid to admit it. Maybe you don't mind being open with others, but fear their response. I totally understand the concern. I'm not saying you go into work today and draft up an all-hands email about every struggle. Maybe for now you simply need to be honest with yourself.
The beauty here is that the admission of weakness is the beginning of wisdom.
Convincing ourselves that a weakness or struggle doesn't exist, or isn't that big of a deal, can cause us to miss important learning opportunities. Consider this as well...what you learn through your weakness now, could play a vital role in you helping someone else through a similar weakness down the road. Just the simple fact that you are not the only one with a certain struggle can be encouraging!
Now, I will say, being honest with others may open the door to less-than-receptive responses and I don't want to ignore that possibility. Even in great working environments, there are often one or two that may give people a hard time for showing, or sharing, struggles. If one imperfect individual cannot accept someone else's imperfection...well, that is on them. I know this doesn't ease the fear of a negative response, but I do still believe in the importance of being open with others at times. Start with yourself, then consider opening up to at least a few others.
We ALL have weaknesses and struggles. There are no perfect Meteorologists. If we're honest about our weakness and patient with others', we can all work together to provide the best service possible. If you want to set yourself, and others, up for success, then start with honesty.
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