It doesn’t feel much like winter today, but the National Weather Service is confident winter is on the way and effective Tuesday, the agency changed winter forecast terms. Instead of issuing Wind Chill Watches, Warnings and Advisories, all offices will now issue Cold Advisories and Extreme Cold Watches or Warnings.
Wind chill information will still be available, but the forecasts will be reflective of both actual air temperature and feel-like temperature (not solely dependent upon wind speed).
Here are the criteria for South Central Nebraska:
°Cold Weather Advisory: Air or feel-like temperatures between -20° and -30°
°Extreme Cold Watch/Warning: Air or feel-like temperatures colder than -30°
The North Central Kansas criteria: °Cold Weather Advisory: Air or feel-like temperatures between -15° to -25°
°Extreme Cold Watch/Warning: Air or feel-like temperatures colder than -25°
The stated benefit of this change is a focus on “cold is cold” regardless of the wind.
In addition to the changes already mentioned, the NWS is simplifying freeze related products by consolidating previously used “Hard Freeze” wording into a single freeze Watch or Freeze Weather statement.
Reader Comments(0)