User Feedback on Potential Changes in the ENSO Alert System

For decades, the National Weather Service (NWS) has used the Watch, Warning, and Advisory (WWA) system to alert users of forecasted hazards. The WWA system has been highly effective in protecting life and property. However, following recent surveys, NWS has learned that some users are confused about how to interpret and distinguish among the large number of individual WWA "products," including the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Alert System.

To address this issue as it relates to the ENSO Alert System, NWS engaged partners and users to gather feedback on users' interpretation of the current headlines used and potential changes to these headlines. In particular, feedback was solicited on eliminating the term "Advisory" from the Alert System, which would parallel other efforts within NWS to move away from use of this term. Feedback was collected between March 20 and May19, 2020. Affiliations identified were research, academia, weather forecasting, emergency management, water resources, among other occupations.

An analysis of the feedback targeted differences in the feedback received. The greatest number of partners and users providing feedback were from California, so their feedback was analyzed separately. In addition, the analysis included stratification of feedback by user occupations. Only a small number of users identified the correct interpretation of the current headlines, with a slightly greater number of the emergency management community having a clearer understanding of the current language used. Within NWS, a significant number of users indicated that they did have a good understanding of the correct interpretation of the term "Advisory" in the headline [El Niño (or La Niña) conditions are observed and expected to continue]. With respect to proposed changes in the headline to remove the word 'Advisory," the overwhelming majority of partners and users favored the removal and the proposed alternative headlines. Some partners and users provided additional ideas for alternative headlines.