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Read. Understand. Apply.
The Warn Room blogs apply 70 years of research to the practice of alerts and warnings. We show how evidence-based changes to message content, style, and structure can create more effective warnings.
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Sometimes a complete warning will include a second message.
WEA sent 11/26/2022 While researchers and practitioners recommend including an expiration time in the warning message, when an incident...

Jeannette Sutton
Nov 26, 2022


Order lifted...water is safe
WEA sent 11/17/2022 This is an example of a beautiful post-alert message. It is complete, includes all of the necessary content, and...

Jeannette Sutton
Nov 17, 2022


Does "until further notice" mean another notice will follow?
WEA sent 11/15/2022. While it is understandable that alert originators would prefer to limit their use of WEA to prevent over-alerting (a...

Jeannette Sutton
Nov 15, 2022


The importance of message consistency.
Top WEA sent 11/4/2022 1:23 pm CDT Bottom WEA sent 11/4/2022 1:20 pm CDT External message consistency is just as important as internal...

Jeannette Sutton
Nov 3, 2022


An Inconsistent Message
WEA sent 10/29/22 at 6:50 am An internally consistent message will not include contents that are contradictory, In this example, we see...

Jeannette Sutton
Oct 29, 2022


When the hazard isn't named...
WEA sent 10/24/2022 @ 1:22 am When a hazard isn't named and a protective action is recommended, message receivers are likely to delay. A...

Jeannette Sutton
Oct 23, 2022


Wildfire Alert
October 16, 2022; Clark County, WA ; #nakiafire (click image to enlarge) This complete WEA includes the source, hazard, hazard impacts,...

Jeannette Sutton
Oct 15, 2022


Improving Guidance Statements
(WEA sent on 10/15/2022 at 17:39 pm) This WEA includes most of the elements of a good message. The source is identified (San Bernardino...

Jeannette Sutton
Oct 15, 2022


Warning has been lifted...but what does that mean?
WEA sent 10/16/2022 at 11:47am Back in January 2018, following the ICBM WEA that will go down in infamy, it became pretty clear that...

Jeannette Sutton
Oct 15, 2022


Jargon-talk
WEA sent 9/22/2022 90 Character messages are severely limited in the content they can contain. This is a reason to use all of the space...

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 21, 2022


Clearly communicating to vulnerable populations
(click image to enlarge) Personalizing information can help message receivers "see themselves" in the message. Catalina Island, off the...

Jeannette Sutton
Aug 23, 2022


Here comes #Hilary
(click image to enlarge) A well-forecasted and highly infrequent event requires clear communication to populations at risk. Every now and...

Jeannette Sutton
Aug 21, 2022


Wildfire warning: Two great examples, two formats, two message boxes...
(click image to enlarge) Alerting software is, apparently, not easy to use. We regularly see important content placed in the description...

Jeannette Sutton
Aug 1, 2022


"Practice bear awareness"
WEA sent 10/10/2021 Some WEAs are sent for unusual events, such as in the case of an injured bear on the range in Mt Teton County. This...

Jeannette Sutton
Oct 9, 2021


Message complete! (in 231 characters)
WEA sent 10/26/2020 While the research record supports a specific order of contents to improve message comprehension (source; hazard;...

Jeannette Sutton
Oct 25, 2020
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