Before or by July 1, 2009, NWS offices in the Central Region will upgrade the criteria for the issuance of severe thunderstorm warnings. The current criteria is based on winds of 58 mph or greater and hail 3/4" or larger. The 58 mph or greater criterion will remain, but the hail criterion will be increased to 1" or larger. I think this is an excellent decision, especially for the areas in this part of the country that experience large hail. I feel this new criteria is beneficial for a multitude of reasons, but most importantly, this will reduce the number of severe thunderstorm warnings and prevent the public from becoming desensitized to severe thunderstorm warnings.
Other regions are discussing the possibility of following suit, but I'm sure they will wait until public feedback can be collected. I strongly believe that this should NOT be a nationwide policy because hail impacts from one region to another may be interpreted differently. For example, a resident in Kansas would likely not feel threatened by 3/4" hail. Another resident in Maine may feel more impacted by the same size hail since it occurs much less frequently. Similar to winter weather advisories, watches, and warnings, I feel each region should set their own criteria for severe thunderstorm warnings. However, this does pose considerable questions with regards to severe thunderstorm research and should be discussed for quite some time (i.e. implementation of the Enhanced Fujita Scale).
Click below to listen to a webcast detailing the new criteria:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crh/One_Inch_Hail_Podcast.wmv
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