Over the last ten months, a handful of Kossacks and I have posted almost 60 severe weather diaries covering everything from the April 27 Alabama tornado outbreak to potential outbreaks that never came to fruition. When I started this series, neither I nor anybody else knew truly how bad the severe weather season would be. One tornado outbreak after another made this season the second deadliest on record (576 deaths in the United States) and produced about 1,800 confirmed tornadoes (above the yearly average of 1200-1300).
In a few weeks, I'll post an in-depth recap of the year's tornadoes complete with radar imagery, videos, pictures, narrated video clips (like the ones I made for Irene) and all the numbers and statistics that geeks love. But right now, I want to get your opinion on Severe Weather Liveblog. This is a series for you, to keep you informed and safe when severe weather threatens. I want to make the diaries posted in SWL as user-friendly, easy to understand and relevant as possible, and I need your help to do that.
Here are some of the bigger SWL diaries from the past year to use as a reference: the first, from the infamous April 27th outbreak across the southeastern US; the second, from the June 1st tornado outbreak across the northeast that produced the Springfield MA EF-3.
Again, your opinion matters. If you can't stand how the diaries are run, let me know. If you don't think they're necessary, say so. If you have ideas of how the diaries can be arranged, share them.
1 -- Do you read Severe Weather Liveblogs? If so, how often?
2 -- Do you feel that the information presented is appropriate and easy to understand?
3 -- Do you feel that there is too much or too little information presented?
4 -- Would you like to see more technical or less technical analysis in describing severe weather outbreaks?
5 -- What is your opinion of the radar images posted in the diaries? Is there any way I could change the images to make them easier to see, load, or understand?
6 -- Do you like how the diaries are formatted? If not, how could they be changed to better fit the information?
7 -- Would you prefer the latest updates at the top of the diary, or the bottom of the diary?
8 -- Should I change the title to reflect the current weather situation, or should I pick one title and stick with it for the duration of the diary?
(Example: The title of the diary when I publish it is "Tornadoes bearing down on Dallas." Once they move through Dallas, should I change the title to reflect that the tornadoes have moved through Dallas, or keep it as it is?)
9 -- Should a new Severe Weather Liveblog diary be posted after a certain number of comments, updates, or length of time?
10 -- What is your opinion on the "Keep trolling, meta, political cheap shots and dickish comments out of here or you'll be HRed" rule?
11 -- What is your overall opinion of Severe Weather Liveblog diaries?
You can use this survey to guide your answers, but you don't have to if you don't like conforming to societal norms. Be rebellious. Post feedback in Swahili if you want.
Oh, and there is no severe weather expected for the next few days. Very boring weather pattern for the eastern 2/3 of the country until the next system moves through Wednesday or Thursday.