The Impact of the Brief Vulnerability Overview Tool on NWS and EM Operations and Communication in the Hazardous Weather Testbed

Abstract A new impact-based decision support tool, the Brief Vulnerability Overview Tool (BVOT), was created to improve National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists’ spatial situational awareness and prompt timely communication with core partners such as emergency managers (EMs). While inspired by observations of operations and NWS–EM communication, the tool merited study to understand how increased knowledge of vulnerabilities might impact the creation and delivery of NWS products and decision support, and how EMs would interpret and use the resulting forecasts and decision support. This next-generation approach to integrating meteorological innovations with a deeper understanding of societal needs and vulnerabilities was tested over eight experiment weeks in the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed from 2021 through 2022. Participants worked through weather cases in simulated operational environments, engaged in discussions, and completed surveys. Each of eight cases involved three time periods: 24–48 h before a severe weather event, 6–12 h before, and a 35-min period of active severe weather. BVOT was used most during active severe weather operations, where meteorologists used it as a situational awareness tool that enabled them to provide messaging about the threat of weather to specific vulnerabilities that were of concern to EMs. Meteorologists’ use of BVOT helped EMs do their jobs more effectively by giving them greater lead time to relay information, plan, respond, and recover. Significance Statement A test of the Brief Vulnerability Overview Tool (BVOT) showed its value for tornado and convective wind threats, assisting meteorologists in providing more detailed and useful messages that helped emergency managers more effectively notify others of an impending threat and plan their response effectively.