Why won the NWS continue to use real human voices for NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards broadcasts?
Automation dramatically speeds up the broadcast of warnings during multiple severe weather events — and faster communication can potentially save lives. Modern Weather Service forecast offices operate up to 13 NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards transmitters to cover segments of a large geographic area, and the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards system continues to grow while staffing levels stay the same. Each forecast, warning and information product must be written, printed, re-worded, then taped for broadcast. Providing the programming for multiple transmitters is a significant workload during relatively calm weather, and can become overwhelming during rapidly changing or threatening weather conditions. The Console Replacement System automates the function of getting severe weather watches, warnings and emergency information from our computers onto the air — multiple warnings can be both recorded and transmitted at once. (Experiences at some prototype sites has shown an 8 to 1 time saving
