Providing Long Range Outlook Summaries to the Climate ... · Providing Long Range Outlook Summaries...

Shawn Rossi – NWS Hastings, NE Ray Wolf – NWS Quad Cities, IA

Barb Mayes Boustead – NWS Warning Decision Training Division, Norman, OK

Climate Prediction Applications Science Workshop - 2018

Providing Long Range Outlook Summaries to the Climate Community

for Decision Support Services

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Central Region Climate Services Program

Ray Wolf (DVN)

Timothy Kearns (ABR)

Jeff Boyne (ARX)

Shawn Rossi (GID)



The Long Range Climate Outlooks

History

• Started over 10 years ago to

provide long range climate outlooks to the Central Region climate community – and mainly intended for internal use.

• Consisted of a brief (10-12 page) PowerPoint presentation that was emailed to CR Climate focal points and management staff to highlight the latest climate forecast from the CPC

• Had minor tweaks over the years, but the format generally has stayed the same since its inception.

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November 2015 Outlook



Wanted outlooks to have: • Clear and concise

messaging

• Share-ability: with both our internal (NWS) and external (non-NWS) partners

• A broader reach through the use of social media

After many years without a significant refresh, an update was needed

• More than just a summary of CPC wording

• Useful resources for internal and external customers

• Readability and brevity



So where did we start?

• We identified other products we liked



But what to include? • Legacy climate

outlooks included around 10 different graphics, a summary page and an additional resources page



The ideas started flowing… • Who is the audience?

• Wanted to keep it a regional product with hands on opportunities for climate focal points to participate.

• Wanted a “bottom line up front” approach • Wanted bulleted messaging • Wanted the outlook to stay “fresh” • Wanted to provide social media templates for

repurposing • Wanted it to be short. 2 pages? 4 pages? • Wanted it to be looked at and used.



Several drafts were made…



January 18, 2018: The February – April Outlook was issued



And for the 1st time, the outlook included 3 social media templates:



So what kind of feedback did we see? (Month 1)

• Limited feedback overall • Only 1 person used the embedded link

to provide feedback • A handful of comments were submitted

directly to the monthly author



Some of the feedback we received: Month 1

• Overall: Generally positive feedback on the new format • “Much easier to digest”

• Some of the constructive feedback: • Desire for an “Important Messages” section

near top • Suggestion to re-arrange the format to align

CPC outlooks in one column in order to appeal to our partners and increase distribution

• Too much text still • Text too repetitive



The March – May 2018 Outlook was issued February 15, 2018:



Feedback from Month 2:

• Extremely limited • Request for feedback was not included this

month • Did receive feedback on google form – “like

new layout, even if it is a bit busy” • Did have a report of trouble loading some

of graphics reported by author • What about Social Media Feedback?

• Some local successes here!



Social Media Success? Month 2:

• About 10,000 people reached

• Over 9% engagement

• Several Comments – All benign - from Smiley faces to people wishing they lived in a warmer portion of the graphic.



The April – June 2018 Outlook: Month 3



Additional Comments: Months 3-5

• “It’s very nice to see the pertinent information on 2 slides rather than 20” – NOAA user

• “Thank you. This is good material!” – State Climatologist

• “I like the format. Great job!” – another state climatologist

• “Absolutely fantastic content within these outlooks!! Quick and east to glean impactful talking points to guide our messaging. Thanks for developing these!” – NOAA user



Important to understand users:

• There will be some negativity because users want more.

• BUT, the information we have to share is useful to many!



Final thoughts:

• Strong desire from our users to provide long range climate outlooks • Should we be blasting these out to our partners via

email? Do we need to establish specific climate email lists of our users?

• How can we get more offices involved? How to encourage offices to post to social media?

• Can we provide more detail? • Yes? No? Maybe? We can always point out value to

the forecast and what those impacts may be locally.

[email protected]


Providing Long Range Outlook Summaries to the Climate ... · Providing Long Range Outlook Summaries...

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