Astract:

Despite rapid improvement in weather forecasting skill, communicating that information to the public remains a dynamic and vexing challenge. This talk will cover a few different efforts to improve meteorological risk communication. First, we will discuss projects leveraging novel technologies, such as virtual reality, and evaluating how they can help meteorologists better understand public perceptions of weather-related hazards. For instance, a hurricane virtual reality simulation was developed, and shown to have potential in enhancing more traditional warning and outreach products. Similarly, a flash flood simulation was used to assess the effectiveness of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) messages when alerting drivers encountering a submerged roadway. The last part of this talk will describe current efforts to evaluate newly developed Spanish language informational materials on rip currents, one of the leading weather-related killers in the United States. All of these initiatives have underscored the need to take a variety of approaches when working to better understand how non-meteorologists interpret and act on complex weather information.