Severe Weather Break-ins (WEIU-TV)
On-Call Declaration:
All WEIU-TV SkyWatch Forecasters will monitor the Convective Outlook to determine whether you will be required to be in the WEIU-TV studio. The following risks have been determined as important indicators (ranked most to least important) that are used as "on-call" situations. It is your responsibility to be aware of these risks as they happen and react to them appropriately.
| Convective Outlook |
On-Call Status |
| High Risk |
Required |
| Moderate Risk |
Required |
| Slight Risk |
Determined by WEIU-MC |
On-Site Attendance:
It is WEIU-TVs and EIUWCs policy to require all WEIU-TV SkyWatch Forecasters to be in the studio during the following events that occur within a one county buffer of the DMA.
- Severe Thunderstorm Watch/Warning (until 11pm)
- Tornado Watch/Warning (anytime)
If the situation for either criteria is determined by your instructor (WEIU Meteorology Consultant) to be a Potentially Dangerous Situation, all persons will stay past 11pm with the approval of the WEIU News Director. Your instructor will contact the News Director to arrange for the WEIU engineer to stay past 11pm until the PDS has diminished. The criteria used to determine this situation follows.
- Severe T-Storm Warnings with Hailstone Size > 1.50" or Winds > 60mph.
- Severe T-Storm Warnings with > 65dbz.
- Tornado Warnings.
Forecasters must remain in the studio until the WEIU-MC has declared an "all clear" or when the last warning has expired from the viewing area.
Break-in Procedure:
When a warning has been issued for any county within the DMA, you must be on air within 30 seconds to notify your public. You may use StormLab to prepare when a warning might be issued, but in no case should a break-in be delivered prior to NWS issuing a warning. The following procedure must be followed:
- Notify the engineer that you will be doing a break-in.
- Present the information to your public in less than 120 seconds.
Break-in Outline:
The following outline is a guideline to what you will present during a break-in:
- Opening statement.
- Present what warnings have been issued and where those warnings are located.
- Present significant data associated with the warnings such as wind gusts, hailstone size, or rotation.
- Present what villages and cities are in the path of these cells using the pathcast.
- Re-state the warnings that have been issued and where those warnings are located.
- Closing statement (i.e. "we will continue to monitor the situation and bring you updates as they happen").
Help during Severe Weather Events:
Your instructor (WEIU-MC) will be available in person or via phone during all severe weather events. Do not contact any other person for questions or concerns.
A Word about Hype:
The use of hype is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. Any forecaster that does not abide by this rule will be permanently removed from participating in any WEIU-TV News Watch production.
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