Why you’ll see fewer winter warnings on weather maps this year

NASHVILLE – Weather enthusiasts who watch weather maps closely may notice that the state of Tennessee is not hit as often by frost and frost events as neighboring states. This change is not due to any data outages or the state somehow controlling temperatures to stay warmer than its neighbors, but rather to internal adjustments made by National Weather Service (NWS) offices. Tennessee Valley.

Leaders at NWS offices around Knoxville NashvilleMemphis and Huntsville have reached an operating standard that says their meteorologists will not issue Frost Advisories or Freeze Watches and Warnings after September 30 in a calendar year and before May 1 at the beginning of the new year.

Frost Warnings and Watches are generally issued when temperatures are expected to drop near or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, causing damage to plants and agriculture.

Most NWS offices in the US operate according to the criteria by which they will publish these documents. winter We consume weatherproof products until the growing season is over, but there seems to be a shift in our thinking about how useful these products are at the end of the growing season and the beginning of the next season.

“This change should reduce or alleviate the confusion that occurs each spring and fall when these products are released or not. By standardizing the release dates of these products, we can reduce inconsistencies in the messages sent to stakeholders,” the NWS office said. Memphis stated.

WIND CHILL AND OTHER COLD WEATHER WARNINGS MAY GET NEW NAMES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THIS WINTER

The end and beginning of growing seasons vary significantly by climate and geographic location. a locale Florida While it may never exit the growing season due to its typically tropical climate, communities along the U.S.-Canada border may have only five or six months to grow and harvest plants.

As a result, NWS offices MinneapolisMilwaukee or Buffalo are much more likely to stop these crops during the season, even months in advance, than offices like Tallahassee, Mobile or the Atlanta metro area, which have longer time to grow crops before the first significant winter cold snap.

Determination of start and end dates by offices serving Tennessee, the agency’s nationwide Hazard Simplification projectEliminated several warnings, including Wind Chill warnings and Hard Freeze Watches and Warnings.

This winterInstead, communities will be placed under Cold Warnings, Extreme Cold Watches and Extreme Cold Warnings, which will alert counties to dangerously cold conditions.

The weather service says these planned nationwide changes are intended to dispel common misconceptions that extreme cold is only the result of windy days and that communities are exposed after a heavy snowfall or ice event.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE renews flood warnings

They wouldn’t be surprised if more parts of the country jumped on the Tennessee bandwagon and changed the criteria for when to issue Frost warnings and Frost Warnings within a year, according to government forecasters.

Local meteorologists report that reactions to the changes have been mixed; This is usually the case when a change is made to a product.

Additionally, the four forecast offices serving the Volunteer State do not issue tropical weather warnings such as Tropical Storm Watches and Warnings or Hurricane Watches and Warnings.

This has been seen lately lately Hellenic disasterIt brought tropical storm conditions as far north as the Ohio Valley.

Meteorologists at NWS knoxville The office said that once the criteria for a tropical cyclone is met, they, along with three counterpart offices, issue an alert known as a High Wind Warning, which communicates the dangers associated with windy conditions.

NWS has 122 offices in all 50 states, including Puerto Rico and Guam, each responsible for official forecasts for local counties within its jurisdiction.