Kerr Emergency Management notes new National Weather Service terms

Back to News
Weatherwords

With a noticeable chill in the air this week, Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator William B. “Dub” Thomas felt it the perfect time to let people know about some changes to weather terminology they might here from the National Weather Service.

“In an attempt to simplify and clarify their meanings, the National Weather Service forecast office covering the Austin/San Antonio region (which includes Kerr County) will be using new terms during the upcoming winter season,” Thomas said.

Moving forward, the NWS’ “Extreme Cold Watch” and “Extreme Wind Chill Watch” have been consolidated and simplified into one term – “Extreme Cold Watch”.

The same goes for the NWS’ “Extreme Cold Warning” and “Wind Chill Warning”, which both will now be known as an “Extreme Cold Warning”.

And, the previous “Wind Chill Advisory” has been replaced with the term “Cold Weather Advisory.”

“Cold is cold!” with or without wind, the NWS office noted.

Additionally, criteria for advisories and warnings are as follows:

  • Winter Weather Advisory will be issued by the NWS if travel impacts are expected to be minimal during the anticipated weather event, with highway overpasses being affected.

  • Winter Storm Warning will be issued by the NWS if travel impacts are expected to be significant during a weather event, with major roadways to be affected.

  • Ice Storm Warning will be issued by the NWS if widespread power outages are likely and there will be an anticipated accumulation of significant ice and/or freezing rain.

  • Cold Weather Advisory will be issued for this area if the air temperature or wind chill value is expected to dip to 15 degrees.

  • Extreme Cold Weather Warning will be issued if this area of the Hill Country is expected to fall into the range of 5 degrees.