Changes to Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Special Weather Statements Coming August 2

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings (SVR) will have new damage threat categories at the bottom of the product. If a storm is expected to produce golf ball sized hail and/or 70 mph winds, the additive data at the bottom of the warning will include a "CONSIDERABLE" tag. If the storm is expected to produce at least baseball sized hail and/or 80 mph winds then the SVR will carry a "DESTRUCTIVE" tag. SVRs and Severe Weather Statements (SVS) with the DESTRUCTIVE tag will be recommended to activate Wireless Emergency Alert on mobile devices.

For more information see https://www.weather.gov/media/notification/pdf2/scn21-22svr_ibwaab.pdf .

Click on the image to the right for a larger version.

Special Weather Statements

Special Weather Statements (SPS) will now be formatted in a similar way as Severe, Tornado, and Flash Flood Warnings. The SPS product will use a bullet format and include succinct "HAZARD", "SOURCE", and "IMPACT" sections, along with tags at the bottom of the product for expected hail size and wind gust speeds. SPSs are issued for storms that are not severe but may still cause negative societal impact.

NWS offices that have issued Significant Weather Advisories as SPS products will no longer do so. (NWS Louisville has not issued Significant Weather Advisories.) What had formerly been Significant Weather Advisories will now use the same format as all other SPSs.