Severe weather study

Abstract

Current methods of severe weather information dissemination and the impact of this information on the general public are studied. The study is based on the responses of the general public and the local broadcasters to a severe weather incident which occurred on August 14, 1972 in the Dane County-Madison Metropolitan area. The results of the study were somewhat startling. From the sample, for instance, it was found that 45% of the Dane County population was not aware of the severe thunderstorm warning. In this case this may or may not have been critical, but had the storm been extremely severe or had a tornado and flooding been associated with the storm, a large segment of the population would have been in great danger. What this study has shown, is that the real problem with the dissemination of severe weather information is not the lack of it, but the inability to transfer it in useful form to an overwhelming majority of the general public.