Read. Understand. Apply.

I recently heard a podcast where the guest described "common knowledge." They explained it this way: you know that I know, and I know that you know, and you know that I know that you know, and I know that you know that I know. Stated more simply: we all know something and we know that everyone else knows that same thing. And this is important when thinking about how we describe actions in warning messages. Not everything is common knowledge. In fact the words that you c

Much of the time that I have written about language inconsistency and the use of jargon in messages, it has been focused on WILDFIRE. Many previous posts to the Warning Gallery have pointed to the use of operational and technical language (Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 or Ready status, Set status, Go status) that has more meaning to responders and commanders than to the public. In fact, we’ve published about the use of inconsistent language in the National Fire Protection A

We like to highlight good messages and this Evacuation Order for flooding hits most of the marks. Issued by the Sonoma County Sheriff's...

Sheriff's WEA issued on 6/29/2023 (click image to enlarge) The National Weather Service has the authority and responsibility to issue...

WEA issued 3/14/2023 Wireless Emergency Alerts for flood and some other severe weather events are officially the domain of the National...