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Our Opinion: Newspapers cover the issues close to (your) home

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Hurricane Matthew is still too far away for the National Weather Service to make accurate predictions about how it will affect Northeastern Pennsylvania but, as information becomes available, words and images will get out through a variety of sources.</p><p>Representatives from the NWS&#8217;s Binghamton, NY office held an Integrated Warning Team workshop with emergency management officials and media Monday. All three play a significant role in the dissemination of information, accurately and timely, said David Nicosia, warning coordination meteorologist in Binghamton.</p><p>&#8220;The whole idea is a consistent message to the public,&#8221; Nicosia told the approximately 20 people attending the seminar at the Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency building on Water Street.</p><p>The NWS prepares a variety of reports for hazardous events such as flooding, snow storms and tornadoes for the region that&#8217;s included in its coverage area of 24 counties in Pennsylvania and New York. The information in real-time online chats, texts and graphics is designed to assist county EMA officials in making decisions and provide television meteorologists with updated information for their forecasts.</p><p>Dave Kuharchik, a WBRE-TV meteorologist, explained the importance of having up-to-date reports on storms in order to alert people of approaching danger.</p><p>&#8220;If we know damage is happening,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that is a crucial thing to know.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s not out of the ordinary for Wyoming County EMA Director Gene Dziak to get an early morning call from a school superintendent who wonders whether to cancel or delay the start of school due to snow or ice storms.</p><p>&#8220;We depend upon your information to try to help make those calls,&#8221; Dziak said.</p><p>The sooner the information is available, the better. Dziak recalled getting short notice on May 12, 2004, from the NWS about a cell of thunderstorms capable of dumping seven inches of rain in Wyoming County. He said he knew there were creeks and streams in that affected area and, fearing flash flooding, notified the Tunkhannock Area School District to reroute school buses.</p><p>Two buses carrying 72 children took alternate routes and the Moneypenny Creek overflowed and washed out Thurston Hollow Road in Eaton Township. &#8220;That day, I know we saved lives,&#8221; Dziak said.</p><p>The NWS has been using emerging technologies, some better than others, to communicate, explained Eric Heden, a forecaster at Binghamton. Twitter, Skype, YouTube and Facebook are used to varying degrees but the agency&#8217;s Facebook page, in existence since 2011, has been a hit.</p><p>&#8220;We continue to be the top page along the East Coast,&#8221; Heden said of Binghamton&#8217;s dominance over Facebook pages from Washington, D.C., Boston and Philadelphia.</p><p>Big weather events draw the most views, something that could happen with Hurricane Matthew.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Meteorologist David Nicosia of the National Weather Service office in Binghamton, N.Y. explains the purpose of an Integrated Warning Team during a workshop Monday at the Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency in Wilkes-Barre and the importance of working with broadcast media and emergency management officials in delivering a consistent message to the public about hazardous weather events. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_TTL100416Weather.jpg</photo0><caption0>Meteorologist David Nicosia of the National Weather Service office in Binghamton, N.Y. explains the purpose of an Integrated Warning Team during a workshop Monday at the Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency in Wilkes-Barre and the importance of working with broadcast media and emergency management officials in delivering a consistent message to the public about hazardous weather events. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>Visit the National Weather Service at Binghamton, NY on the web at <strong>http://www.weather.gov/bgm/</strong> or on Facebook at <strong>https://www.facebook.com/NWSBinghamton/.</strong></p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Teamwork the key to delivering accurate weather warnings to the public