National Weather Service Raw Text Product

683 
NOUS42 KGSP 070643
PNSGSP
NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-019-080000-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
500 AM EST WED MAR 7 2012

...PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...

THIS IS SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK IN THE CAROLINAS. FAMILIES AND 
INDIVIDUALS...AS WELL AS EMPLOYERS AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS...ARE 
URGED TO USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED THIS WEEK TO DEVISE THEIR OWN 
SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY PLANS. IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE... 
YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW YOUR PROCEDURES 
AND PERFORM DRILLS AND EXERCISES. TO SUPPORT THIS EFFORT...THE 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...IN CONJUNCTION WITH STATE EMERGENCY 
MANAGEMENT...WILL CONDUCT A TORNADO DRILL THIS MORNING AT 9:30 AM IN 
NORTH CAROLINA. THIS WILL BE CONDUCTED VIA NOAA WEATHER RADIO 
THROUGH A REQUIRED MONTHLY TEST. 2011 WAS AN UNUSUALLY ACTIVE YEAR 
FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS...WITH MULTIPLE 
STRONG TORNADOES REPORTED...AND NUMEROUS STRONG DOWNBURST EVENTS. 
THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES THAT 2012 WILL BE LESS ACTIVE...OR WILL NOT 
BE EVEN MORE ACTIVE THAN 2011. THE TIME TO PREPARE FOR VIOLENT 
WEATHER IS RIGHT NOW.    

THROUGHOUT THE WEEK...WE HAVE DISCUSSED THE VARIOUS TYPES OF SEVERE 
WEATHER THAT POSE A THREAT TO THE CAROLINAS EACH YEAR. THE NATIONAL 
WEATHER SERVICE HAS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ISSUING WARNINGS AND WATCHES 
OF SEVERE WEATHER. YOUR LOCAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE MAINTAINS 
STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL NEWS MEDIA OUTLETS AND EMERGENCY 
MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS TO ENSURE THAT THE WARNINGS AND WATCHES ARE 
SENT TO THE PUBLIC AS SOON AS THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RELEASES 
THE INFORMATION. THIS SYSTEM HAS PROVED TO BE A VERY EFFECTIVE WAY 
OF RECEIVING WEATHER INFORMATION...AS LONG AS YOU HAPPEN TO BE 
WATCHING TELEVISION OR LISTENING TO THE RADIO WHEN THE WARNINGS AND 
WATCHES ARE ISSUED. 

IT IS NOT UNCOMMON FOR SEVERE WEATHER...INCLUDING TORNADOES TO 
AFFECT OUR REGION LATE AT NIGHT AND IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. THIS 
POSES THE QUESTION OF HOW YOU IN THE PUBLIC CAN RECEIVE WARNINGS OF 
TORNADOES AND VIOLENT THUNDERSTORMS WHILE YOU ARE ASLEEP...OR WHEN 
YOU LOSE POWER. EVEN IF YOU HAVE AN EFFECTIVE SEVERE WEATHER PLAN IN 
PLACE...THAT PLAN IS USELESS IF YOU HAVE NOT ENSURED THAT YOU HAVE A 
RELIABLE MEANS OF RECEIVING WARNINGS AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY. 

THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHOD OF RECEIVING WARNINGS DURING THESE TIMES 
IS VIA NOAA WEATHER RADIO. THESE RATHER INEXPENSIVE YET LIFE-SAVING 
DEVICES CAN BE PURCHASED AT MOST ELECTRONICS STORES. BASIC NOAA 
WEATHER RADIOS ARE BATTERY-OPERATED AND ARE EQUIPPED WITH AN AUDIBLE 
ALARM THAT CAN BE TRIGGERED WHEN A SEVERE WEATHER WARNING OR WATCH 
IS ISSUED FOR ANY COUNTY IN YOUR PARTICULAR BROADCAST AREA. 
HOWEVER...MORE SOPHISTICATED MODELS ARE AVAILABLE THAT ARE EQUIPPED 
WITH SPECIFIC AREA MESSAGE ENCODING...OR SAME...TECHNOLOGY. THIS 
FEATURE ALLOWS THE RADIOS TO BE PROGRAMMED TO ALARM ONLY WHEN A 
WARNING OR WATCH IS ISSUED FOR YOUR COUNTY. YOU CAN ALSO PROGRAM 
MANY OF THESE DEVICES TO ALERT ONLY FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF WARNINGS OR 
WATCHES. 

CELL PHONE TECHNOLOGY IS ALSO TAKING ON AN INCREASING ROLE IN 
RECEIPT OF WARNINGS. SOME PRIVATE VENDORS OFFER SERVICES THAT ALLOW 
YOU TO RECEIVE A TEXT MESSAGE OR OTHER ALERT ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE OR 
PAGER DEVICE IF A WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR GENERAL AREA. OTHER  
APPLICATIONS MAKE USE OF THE GPS SYSTEM IN SMART PHONES TO ALERT 
YOUR PHONE ONLY IF A WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR SPECIFIC LOCATION. A 
SIMPLE INTERNET SEARCH WILL PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION ON SOME OF 
THESE SERVICES. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON NOAA WEATHER RADIO...SAFETY...AND OTHER 
WEATHER INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/GSP. 

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LANE