Distribution of convective wind casualties and comparison with warning thresholds

Keywords: Climatology, GIS, Convective, Wind, Warnings, Casualties, NWS
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

This paper will establish and identify the spatial distribution of convective wind casualties (thunderstorm and tornadoes) across the United States and identifies the effectiveness of convective wind warning thresholds. Convective winds in the United States are a dangerous and hazardous weather event which is responsible for multiple fatalities and injuries each year. Therefore, understanding the effectiveness of the current National Weather Service wind warnings is vital in trying to prevent and minimize risks that are associated with wind warnings looking at both thunderstorm and tornado warnings. The research questions which this paper will aim to address and answer is how many fatalities and injuries were warned vs unwarned, what is the spatial distribution of warnings, fatalities and injuries and look at if the current wind warning threshold should be adjusted. This research is important in understanding where convective wind fatalities and injuries occur and to understand if the current wind warnings need changing as a way to prevent fatalities that are occurring. To understand the spatial distribution of fatalities and injuries data will be gained from the Storm Events Database (SED) and plotted on ArcPro using the coordinates given. Wind warning shapefiles gained from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet will then be compared against the fatality/injury points to understand if these fatalities were warned or unwarned indicating if the wind warning threshold needs to be adjusted to prevent casualties.