Event Safety Insights Issue One | Fall 2016 | Page 15

toring weather conditions that evening via
a smartphone application. However, they
misinterpreted the provided data and the
arrival time of hazardous conditions, thereby delaying evacuation of the facility. A lack
of a decision making chain of command
and predetermined decision triggers further delayed the response, with disastrous
consequences.
Kloesel’s intent wasn’t to deter people
from utilizing weather apps. However, he
believes they should be viewed as a single
component of a comprehensive weather action plan, and should not supersede
what your eyes and instincts are telling you.

Sources of Information
With the importance of a well-rounded
weather action plan established, the discussion turned to where individuals can
locate information to help guide development of their plan, as well as where to
turn for accurate day-of-show weather information and alerts. National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist
Rick Smith provided an overview of several
publicly available planning resources, as
well as what services the National Weather
Service can and cannot provide to individual organizations.
Following Smith, Weather Decision Technologies’ President and Co-Founder Mike
Eilts discussed the role of private sector
weather enterprises, and how such firms
can provide realtime weather guidance
customized for your specific event. Both
Smith and Eilts pointed out that their roles
within the meteorological industry were
complimentary rather than competitive,
with the public and private sector regularly sharing insights, technology, and data in
the pursuit of greater scientific understanding.
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