The National Weather Service is retiring some of its familiar warnings in favor of new, broader weather alerts.
They won’t be issuing lake effect snow watches this winter for Upstate New York; not because they don’t expect it to snow, but because the term is being dropped. Lake effect snow watches and other terms such as “freezing rain advisory” are being replaced by “winter storm watch.” That will cover all types of winter weather. The text of the message will say whether it focuses on lake effect snow, general snow or whatever.
The Buffalo office which covers Rochester will keep issuing the Lake Effect Snow Warning this year when snow has actually started because they feel people are used to it.
The weather service says it’s trying to simplify its alert system so people can get a better handle on what the warnings mean. Dozens of alerts with different levels of severity are being pared down to reduce the sheer number of alerts issued.
They’re starting with winter weather, but flood and storm alerts could be modified next year.