(Des Moines) – The National Weather Service is making changes to its messaging for the upcoming winter season to improve clarity and better support decision-making. Mike Hall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, explains that the agency has simplified its cold weather alerts to better communicate the dangers of extreme cold weather products to improve messaging of these hazards, and provide better decision to support services.
One significant change is the replacement of the old wind chill advisories and warnings. From now on, the Weather Service will issue “Extreme Cold Warnings” and “Cold Advisories” instead, eliminating the previous wind chill requirement for these alerts.
For areas along and south of Highway 20, an Extreme Cold Warning will be issued when temperatures reach -30°F or lower. In the far northern parts of the region, an Extreme Cold Warning will be issued for temperatures at or below -35°F.
These changes, Hall adds, are designed to make cold weather alerts easier to understand and more relevant to the actual threat posed by extreme temperatures.
