Weather maps that once focused on where storms might hit are about to say more about how nasty they could be. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center started this week to tweak its severe weather outlooks to factor in not just the odds of storms, but their potential strength, reports the Washington Post. The familiar 0-to-5 risk categories aren't going away, but how they're assigned will shift. Forecasters will now be able to bump up the risk level when isolated storms could be especially intense—for example, a weather event that once carried a "slight" risk might now be labeled "enhanced" if an extra-powerful tornado is possible, however isolated it may be.
Conversely, a sprawling cluster of weaker storms now might not earn a higher category. New hatched markings on maps will flag areas where any tornado, wind, or hail reports are expected to be on the stronger end; WHNT shows the three different hatched markings, depending on intensity level, that will be used. Many meteorologists say the added nuance will help them better communicate "sneaky" or conditional high-impact events, though some TV forecasters worry the extra map details may confuse viewers and plan to lean more on plain-language explanations instead, per the Post. The changes roll out just as severe weather chances are expected to increase in the central US this week. The Weather Channel offers a more detailed breakdown of what's changing and what's staying the same.
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