Public Information Priorities across Weather Hazards and Time Scales

Abstract

Abstract As the abundance of weather forecast guidance continues to grow, communicators will have to prioritize what types of information to pass on to decision-makers. This work aims to evaluate how members of the public prioritize weather forecast attributes (including information about location, timing, chance, severity, impacts, and protective actions) on average and across event timelines in the severe, tropical, and winter weather domains. Data from three demographically representative surveys of U.S. adults indicate that members of the public generally prioritize information about event location, timing, and severity when evaluating the importance of forecast attributes. This pattern is largely consistent across hazard domains but varies across event timelines. In early stages of a forecast (such as the outlook time scale), people generally prioritize information about chance and location. In middle stages (watch time scale), event timing and severity become more important. In late stages (warning time scale), information about protective actions is a higher priority, especially for people with less exposure to a hazard.