Will it Rain on My Parade? Forecasting the Weather for Events.

Jason Anderson, Lead Forecaster, TruWeather Solutions

I once had a client tell me “But that tornado is a mile and a half away.” Little did they know that my crew was already breaking down the equipment and rendering it safe. However, the fact remained that over a thousand  people were caught in a dangerous weather event, with a 20 minute walk to the closest subway station only after they were able to exit the venue all at the same time. Fortunately, nobody was injured.

If any part of your event takes place outdoors, this episode of the podcast is worth your time. 
​
Our guest today is a professional forecaster with more than a decade of experience providing decision support for clients in the live event industry. Jason Anderson, Lead Forecaster for TruWeather Solutions, is our guest today on The Event Producer Podcast. 

Guest: Jason Anderson, TruWeather Solutions
Host: Glen Sanders, Fresh Air Flicks

Links:
Website: https://truweathersolutions.com/

---

Show Notes: 

• What is a High Wind Action Plan? What is the threshold the structures at your event can withstand?
• Small tents can start flying around in 10mph winds.
• Situational awareness is knowing what is going on around you.
• An overall weather action plan for your event will include how easy it is to get people in an out of your event.
• When you're planning your event you need to be thinking about your weather preparedness plan (WPP); How long do I need to take what actions? How do I communicate to not just the crowd but the vendors, the staff, the local municipality?
• Communication is key to your WPP.
• A watch means that the weather service has a high confidence that this threat will occur in this region. Winds in a watch are typically 30-40mph gusts.
• A warning means that this weather is occurring right now. Warnings are 60 or more gusts
• A thunderstorm can pass outside of your site but the winds can extend outside the storm and affect your site.
• If you're an event producer your vendor should be communicating with you the thresholds of the equipment in the planning stage.
• Weather apps and TV stations are giving you a regional view of 100 miles or more.
• A 60% chance of rain means a 40% chance it will be dry.
• A forecast of 60% chance of rain means there's a 60% chance it will rain somewhere in the region. Not necessarily your exact location.
• Weather is an art form, not an exact science. Weather modeling makes assumptions about what will occur in the future.
• Free weather services are giving you a best guess and not accounting for local affects of temperature, moisture, wind, etc. that can affect your exact location.
• Your local weather forecaster is trying to talk to millions of people, not your event where a Meteorologist from TruWeather will focus on your event.
• Truweather can help you build a weather action plan, create a forecast for your specific site, and provide real time alerting.
• The National Weather Service has a Storm Ready program that validates the weather plan for your location.
• Most of the apps are getting their data from the same National Weather Service. For the best free weather service, NWS.gov.