It rains all the time.But not like this! I also feel we have to determine better ways of conveying amounts of rain to make it more concrete.

The weather community shared/discussed the rain, but did we do it too much internally? Did we push it externally? I think the answer is yes. I also observed that (many) Twitter feed only shared the track. When I looked for rain graphics the search took longer than expected. She says information on impacts and track information are more accessible, but she has concerns about rainfall messaging,

Gina Eosco, a social scientist with Cherokee Nation Strategic Programs, is an expert on communication and perception related to weather information. Since Friday evening, some parts of coastal Texas have already received over 1 foot of rainfall, and we still have almost a week of this to go.ĭr. I do enough media to understand the 'story.' However, the historic rainfall potential is jaw-dropping and a direct threat to the human life. It is a challenge because five-to-seven days worth of rain from a tropical storm spinning over Texas is not as telegenic or 'sexy' as an iconic category 4 hurricane making landfall. I also got this sense as I monitored comments from friends in social media. I fielded media interviews throughout the day Friday and at times, I sensed that the reporters really were not grasping this fact. In this case, the 'two' in the cliche 'one-two punch' is the the sustained threat. Harvey is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 15 to 30 inches and isolated amounts of 40 inches over the middle and upper Texas coast through NEXT Wednesday.Rainfall of this magnitude will cause catastrophic and life threatening flooding. The National Hurricane Center public advisory on the morning of Saturday Aug. If you visit the site, you can see for yourself how the models keep Harvey around for almost a week. We cannot cover this storm just as a 'landfalling hurricane.' It needs to be covered as a 'lingering, unprecedented flood event.' The excellent Tropical Tidbits website provides access to the weather models. It is why my colleagues have to be very careful about how Harvey's evolution is being communicated. As devastating as a landfalling major hurricane is, many of us have always been more concerned about the days of rainfall. The other part of my nervousness was this tendency for the public and media to latch onto the inevitable fact that the storm will 'weaken' from a major hurricane to a weaker one or tropical storm. The other category 4 (or higher) storms were Hugo, Andrew and Charley. Hurricane Harvey is only the fourth category 4+ hurricane to make landfall in the United States since 1970 according to Colorado State University hurricane expert, Dr. Part of me was actually nervous about the rapid strengthening to a Category 3/4 storm because I know the immediate danger that this type of storm can bring in terms of storm surge, wind, and tornadoes. Hurricane Harvey made landfall (twice) Friday evening east of Corpus Christi, Texas as a Category 4 storm.

Harvey rain totals today