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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.


Do NOT travel messaging in Winter Storms.
The December 2022 winter storm in New York affected more than just Erie County and the city of Buffalo. While Erie and Buffalo bore the...

Jeannette Sutton
Jan 18, 2024


5-Star Winter Storm Messaging
In 2022, Erie County and the city of Buffalo experienced a catastrophic winter storm at the height of the Christmas holiday, resulting in...

Jeannette Sutton
Jan 16, 2024


Bridge Closed - Find Alternate Route
We routinely see messages for roads that are closed using WEA. This is primarily within the states of Texas and Georgia and they are...

Jeannette Sutton
Dec 20, 2023


A Well-Written Cancellation Message for a Boil Water Advisory.
The National Weather Service has done quite a bit of research on the use of the terms "watch", "warning", and "advisory", demonstrating...

Jeannette Sutton
Dec 1, 2023


A 5-Star Alert for a Missing Person
This missing person alert is a great example of how to write an actionable message with enough content that a receiver may be able to act...

Jeannette Sutton
Nov 25, 2023


The importance of location information
WEA issued 4/22/23 to persons in Met Life Stadium The research record on alerts and warnings consistently identifies the importance of...

Jeannette Sutton
Apr 21, 2023


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
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