First Warning

First Warning is the name of an automated severe weather warning system made for broadcast television stations in the United States.

The system was created in the mid-1980s in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the tornado capital of the world, by meteorologist Gary England of CBS affiliate KWTV.

First Warning consists of a map of an entire state or just the viewing area of the television station with a list of the watches, warnings or advisories in colored text, in text beside a colored key or in text on a line colored key. When a new watch is issued by the Storm Prediction Center or warning is issued by the National Weather Service local forecast office, a scroll featuring information on the warning appears usually accompanying an alarm tone. The scroll is also used by television stations for information on non-severe weather.

Variations of this system are used on television stations across the country. A key example is NBC affiliate KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City. On a variation of the First Warning system called the 4Warn Storm Alert, when a new watch or warning is issued, the screen showing that program shrinks and a map of the state of Oklahoma appears with a specific county name shown above the map and the county under that watch or warning blinking in the warning/watch color. Above it, a scroll showing the information. On the second run of the scroll, a live picture of their 4Warn Doppler is shown.

ystem upgrades

By the early and mid-2000s, the First Warning system received new upgrades as the system became able to toggle between watches and warnings and radar images. However, not all television stations have a radar function on their First Warning systems but the number of stations that have the function is slowly growing. Many television stations are also adding a function on their First Warning systems to allow the use of county-by-county radar images.

See also

* Emergency Alert System
* National Weather Service
* NOAA Weather Radio
* Severe weather