Communicating Impact-Based Weather in Interior Northern California:
A Look at NWS Sacramento’s Innovations in Decision Support Services
Courtney Obergfell - NOAA’s National Weather Service, Weather Forecast Office Sacramento CA
Introduction
NWS Sacramento Partner Email
In the rapidly-evolving world of technology, the need to have weather information readily available 24/7 has driven innovations across the National
Weather Service (NWS). To better support the mission of the “Weather-Ready Nation” initiative, NWS Sacramento has developed a suite of innovative
products in addition to the traditional suite of all-caps text products to better support local decision support services (DSS) and a diverse customer base.
In order to more effectively spread the message and expected weather impacts, NWS Sacramento communicates with valuable partners such as local
emergency management and media through informative partner emails and graphics as the weather warrants. Locally-developed tools and graphics
templates can produce GIS maps and pictures depicting the forecast. These partner emails and graphics in turn feed the content used in social media
messaging to the public and our followers. The ease of use of these forward-thinking techniques can and are being utilized by other offices across the
NWS. This poster will highlight aforementioned techniques by using the example of a major winter storm that affected Northern California on
December 11, 2014.
NWS Traditional Suite of Products
Currently, there is no official NWS product to give advanced warning (4-7 days in the future) about the possibility of high-impact weather other than to
mention it in an Area Forecast Discussion (AFD) or Hazardous Weather Outlook (HWO). Traditional NWS products, such as watches or warnings, are more
short-fused (hours to a few days in advance) and limited in reach. These products are written in capitalized text with little flexibility in messaging options.
Over the past several years, some forecast offices have transitioned toward issuing a Special Weather Statement (SPS) as a way to give advanced warning
but this is not a baseline practice and does not have the capability of including graphics for more effective messaging. Using the December 11th 2014
example, here is how the progression of a traditional suite of NWS products would look on its own.
4 Days Out—Special Weather Statement (SPS)
3 Days Out—Winter Storm Watch (WSW)
Example Graphics for Partner Emails and Social Media Posts
In order to better support local DSS with enhanced messaging and communication, NWS Sacramento developed a template for an email that goes out to
key partners in advance of possible high-impact weather. This can give 4-7 days of advance notice in some situations, long before any traditional NWS
product goes out. Partner feedback has stressed the importance of these emails for planning purposes even with high uncertainty or if the worst-case
scenario does not occur. This easy-to-use pre-formatted template can be sent by any WFO staff member as soon as a need arises. The main objective is:
KEEP IT SIMPLE!
The template is broken into 4 bulleted sections:

Impacts

Forecast Confidence

Timing and Strength

Weather Summary
Graphics and videos are attached following the weather summary as necessary.
Once the initial partner email has been sent, updates are issued daily as the situation warrants with updates highlighted in yellow.
PowerPoint Template: Simple, bulleted information describing threat level with
historical context, impacts, timing, and the strength of the storm.
Preparation Checklist PowerPoint Template: Graphic highlighting safety tips
to prepare in advance for winter storm.
Storm Total Precipitation Forecast: Any weather element in GFE can be made
into a map for a user-defined time period beyond what is available in NDFD.
Storm Total Snow Forecast: Map highlighting storm total snow forecasts
using GFE grids. Can be tailored to a certain area or major roadway.
Radar Forecast Using Hi-Res Model Data: Graphics run locally to show
forecast timing of precipitation. Can be used to make animations.
PowerPoint Template: Simple graphic highlighting hazardous mountain travel
with major roadways that may be impacted
Happening Now PowerPoint Template: Mosaic radar graphic run locally to
show current radar. Can be tailored to regional, local, or storm-based area.
Current Road Conditions: Graphic showing Caltrans traffic and webcams to
emphasize hazardous winter travel conditions using real-time data.
2 Days Out—Blizzard Warning (WSW)
First Email Sent
5 Days Ahead of Storm
 Highlights confidence in
major storm even though
exact details are still
uncertain
Daily Updates Sent
Until Storm Arrived
 highlights increased
confidence with
additional details on
impacts and timing
National Watch, Warning, Advisory (WWA) Map for December 9, 2014
NDFD Graphical Forecast Viewer
Key Partners/Users
Contact Information
NWS Sacramento
www.weather.gov/sacramento
courtney.obergfell@noaa.gov
@ceober4