Credit: CBS

The National Severe Storm Lab in Norman, Oklahoma is developing new technology to improve forecasting.

Broadcast meteorologists, emergency managers, and National Weather Service forecasters joined together at the lab at the University of Oklahoma to test the new technology for better communication during tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the University of Oklahoma is one of the seven NOAA Research Laboratories in the country.

Holly Obermeier of NOAA and University of Colorado Boulder says, “These are experimental products. They’re new. They’re new kinds of warnings. We need to make sure that broadcasters are able to communicate those products so that they’re useful, so it’s really important.”

Obemeier mentioned that it was also important that a weather forecaster from Denver be present (such as Ashton Altieri, who attended the event) because the state experiences such an array of different weather, from tornadoes to hail.

Ultimately, the goal is to produce better warnings for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms that have the potential to produce hail.