7/2/2001
Jim Pringle NWS Grand Junction, CO

Since lightning usually kills more people in our county warning area (CWA) than any other weather phenomenon (unless avalanches are considered), our office was very proactive in spreading the word on lightning safety:

1. In late may, we transmitted a heads up notice regarding the upcoming awareness week to all broadcast and print media outlets within our CWA (about 120). We also transmitted the same information to all emergency managers within our CWA.
2. During the awareness week, we posted information on our office web site promoting National Lightning Awareness Week, including information on lightning safety.
3. All NWR stations within our CWA included broadcasts of the daily lightning PNS products during the awareness week. Additionally, GJT WFO transmitted the PNS products daily via AWIPS.
4. Our staff provided several interviews to broadcast and print media pertaining to lightning safety.

6/26/2001
Ron Mcqueen

Las Vegas MIC, Larry Jensen, and myself met with Las Vegas Mayor Goodman Thursday, June 21st, at his weekly press conference during which I presented a brief summary of the National Lightning Safety Awareness campaign. This will run a number of times on the local government access channel for the next month or so. We also gave interviews on lightning safety to two local T.V. stations. Larry added another interview for local T.V. on this subject the next day. In addition, our web genie did a nice job of formatting the lightning awareness information onto our home page.

6/26/2001
Dave Toronto

I had several media opportunities associated with NLAW.

June 19 - Live interview on KSL Talk Radio - about 5 minutes.

June 19 - Telephone interview with reporter from the Salt Lake Tribune.

June 20 - Live on camera segment on KUTN TV in Logan Utah - about 10 minutes. This was also recorded and rebroadcast several times during the day.

Jun 24 - FOX TV channel 13 interview for lightning safety story that aired both at 5pm and 9pm.

6/25/3001
Paul Eyssautier

Here is a summary of the activities we participated in during last week's National Lightning Awareness Week.

Monday June 18 - Interview with Elko Free Press. Talked about Lightning Awareness Week, operations of our office and upcoming events. Published Wednesday June 20.

Wed. June 20 - Telephone interview with Radio Station KELK/KLKO, about Lightning Awareness week, current weather forecast, and status of fire danger in area.

Each day faxed articles to all media in our CWA. On Monday used article written by John Hensenious. Remaining articles used local information, plus daily articles taken from the web site - lightningsafety.noaa.gov. Also sent our four PNS statements, written mainly for use on NOAA Weather Radio in our CWA.

Our Webmaster, Brian Fehrn, provided a link to the LightnessAwarness page and the Lightning Quiz located on the Salt Lake City Web page. Brian also has developed a Spotter sign up page for our area.

Paul

6/22/2001
Mike Akulow

WFO Topeka considers Lightning Safety Awareness Week a success in our area. We got help from several rounds of thunderstorms where frequent severe lightning touched off at least 4 significant building fires in 2 days. The frequent lightning and fires coupled with our promotion of lightning safety awareness was great to encourage and enhance media coverage. Other Activities included:

• 115 mailings to all CWA media outlets concerning the upcoming week, web sites and Kansas lightning stats
• Daily Public Information Statement
• One live radio interview with 8 taped interviews
• Twenty print media interviews on all aspects of lightning
• One TV interview with all other CWA TV stations having evenings news stories about the awareness week and lightning dangers.
• Home page updated with lightning information and national web site.
• Two presentations this week where lightning safety and the awareness week were highlighted.
• Plans to distribute lightning posters to golf course and other places with outdoor activity.

6/22/2001
Paul Flatt

Thunderstorm Safety Awareness Week comes to a close in Tucson with a bang.

Today we had our last media blitz with a press conference in our conference room. We had 4 TV media show up and one newspaper. The spanish station Telemundo was present at today's briefing and did a lengthy interview in Spanish with our Hydrologist. Today's press briefing featured a lightning strike survivor. The media were grateful to have this individual to drive home the point that safety and preparedness are important and can save your life.

All totaled through the week we had the following interviews (which are probably underestimated)...

TV - 15 one on one interviews (includes one in native spanish with our hydrologist) Radio - 3. Newspaper - 11.

The weather cooperated almost perfectly. We began the week hot and dry, at mid week we had our first thunderstorms of the season role into town with severe weather. The weather that came mid week arrived just in time after we got the word out about what to expect in southern Arizona. The last two days of our campaign were focused on how to prepare and keep safe. The news media has been fantastic with stories on almost every news segment this week from early morning through noon, evening, and night. Likewise newspapers also printed stories on almost a daily basis.

Our weeks activities were all coordinated with Tucson Electric Power, Global Atmospherics Inc, and Pima county Emergency Services. Having four partners in this endeavor was as great benefit.

Prf

6/21/2001
Peter Felsch

I forwarded the lightning awareness week press releases to our local media, as well as directed them to our web site to obtain the daily information from the lightning awareness web site link. We have not had any interviews yet, but I have seen and heard on local TV and radio stations lightning awareness material that was taken from this web site. We are also playing daily PNS on lightning awareness on our NWR. Peter

06/20/2001
Daniel Noah NWS Bismarck, ND

Lightning Awareness Activities:

• Press release to 120 radio, TV, and newspapers
• One TV interview - All four TV stations in CWA have promoted lightning week
• Full feature Sunday article in the Bismarck Tribune on tornadoes and lightning
• Daily Public Information Statement issued, including ND lightning facts
• Office web page updated to include ND facts and link to national homepage
• Printed lightning awareness posters and provided them to golf courses
• Two safety talks to area businesses with emphasis on lightning

6/20/2001
Jim Kramper, WCM St. Louis MO

In Missouri, we have combined the Lightning Awareness Week with our annual Hot Weather Safety Week to produce a Missouri Summer Weather Safety Week.

An informational flyer was sent out by my office to all the county Health Departments in the state, and to all the media and other interested parties in my CWA (The other offices take care of their CWA). The State Emergency Management Agency forwarded info to all the local EMA Directors, and the State Department of Health sent out their annual press releases on the dangers of excessive heat. I have done about a dozen radio interviews (2 live call-in shows) over the past week and a half.

I have also gotten word from almost all the TV stations in my CWA that they were at least going to "mention" the campaign and give out some safety tips. Many of them hold off doing anything "big" until something "hits" and it is current news, which is fine with me.

The local (county) newspapers will most assuredly pick up on the story. The past couple of years, stories have appeared in about 75% of these entities. The stories are often word-for-word what they received in the flyer.

All things considered, I think we have done about as good as we could have.

Jim Kramper

6/19/2001
Steve Kuhl

The following is a summary of the many activities performed by WFO Billings to promote National Lightning Awareness Week.

1) Friday - June 15th, WCM Steve Kuhl, provided a live interview during the evening news broadcast from the KULR8 TV studio (NBC affiliate) in Billings. Steve and Ed McIntosh, on camera meteorologist, discussed Lightning Awareness Week.

2) Tuesday - June 19th, WCM Steve Kuhl, provided four live radio interviews with the DJ’s of four Billings radio stations: KGHL AM 790; KGHL FM 98.5; KBEX FM 105.1; and, KRSQ FM Hot 101.7.

3) Tuesday - June 19th, WCM Steve Kuhl, appeared live on a 60 minute "Berg in the Morning" call in radio talk show to discuss Lightning Awareness Week. The interview was aired live on 12 radio stations across the State of Montana.

4) The WFO Billings homepage was modified to include a prominent link for National Lightning Awareness Week.

5) Senior Forecaster Mark Strobin, provided a story on Lightning Awareness Week to the Billings Gazette Newspaper in Billings. The story was printed in the June 19th edition.

6) WFO Billings issued a different Public Information Statement focusing on various aspects of lightning and safety during each day of the week.

7) All the print/radio/television media partners within the WFO Billings CWA were faxed these five Public Information Statements on June 6th, to ensure that they had ample time to include this information in their newspapers, radio shows, etc.

8) Go the the link below and you will see the article that we had printed in the Billings Gazette about Lightning Safety Awareness Week. http://billingsgazette.com/archive.php?section=local&display=rednews/2001/06/19/build/local/2lightning.inc

Overall, WFO Billings coordinated excellent media coverage for this event and provided lightning safety and awareness information to thousands of people across the State of Montana.

6/19/2001
Robert Glancy - Boulder, Colorado

Thus far in Colorado, we have had a newspaper article on lightning safety, one TV station covered lightning safety last night, and another paper has contacted me. It has been a pretty good response so far.

Bob

6/19/2001
Rick Dittman

Every year in Montana we hold a statewide Severe Weather Awareness Week in April. During this week, we hit lightning awareness pretty hard. However, it's always good to hit it again. So, in Great Falls, we've conducted interviews with the ABC (two-part series airing on consecutive nights) and CBS affiliates and the LP1 AM radio station.

Our webmaster did a nice job setting up our Web page with useful > information and a variety of links including that of the national L.A.W. web page.

-Rick

6/19/2001
From: Tanja Fransen - WCM NWS Glasgow, Montana

I have given two interviews to newspapers about Lightning Awareness Week, and sent out releases to all the papers in our CWA about it. I am having some of the posters printed up, and am bringing them to our local golf course, and sending a few posters to some of the other golf courses in the CWA.

We only have one network Television Station in our CWA, and most of the radio stations contract with the Northern Ag Network out of Billings for weather information. John Pulasky (he owns the Northern Ag Network) and I spoke on the phone yesterday evening, and he will be talking about Lightning Awareness Week during his broadcasts this week.

As for the information you sent out, it was useful. The only problem we have in our CWA is that we do not have any daily papers, and the deadlines to get information into the papers is typically a week in advance, so I had to prepare all my own releases to send out, rather than use the ones prepared nationally. The PNS statements that originated from Gray, Maine, were very helpful in preparing for the NWR broadcasts throughout the week.

Tanja Fransen - WCM NWS Glasgow, Montana

6/19/2001

Tyree Wilde wrote:

Flagstaff is also up and running with the AZ Thunderstorm Awareness week. We have an in-studio television interview scheduled tomorrow morning (WCM, Emergency Mgr) to discuss safety and preparedness information. We've done three in-person interviews (WCM) with a local television station and two newspaper editors who are running articles all week on this week's topics. As Paul and David stated earlier, the AZ campaign is covering similar topics across the state.

- Monday: Lightning Awareness
- Tuesday: Thunderstorms/Tornadoes
- Wednesday: Flash Floods
- Thursday: Dust Devils
- Friday: Recent Significant Wx Events

tw

6/18/2001

From: "David Runyan"

Here too...(in Phoenix), The AZ Thunderstorm Safety Awareness Week is in full swing...so far this morning we have accomplished two on-site TV interviews. These interviews covered this week's issues...Monday "Lightning"; Tuesday "Severe Thunderstorms" ; Wednesday "Flash Floods"; Thursday "Information Resources"; Friday "Wrap up and Review".

Our Governor has supposedly officially proclaimed the week --

The Phoenix / Yuma Media Weather Workshop will be held this Thursday -- at our office. All TV network stations and major radio stations have been invited.

David

6/18/2001

Thunderstorm Safety Awareness Week is off and running in Tucson. Last Friday we had 1 live in studio interview (WCM).

We also had one taped radio interview (WCM).

This morning KUAT (local PBS radio) aired a piece that was in the works over the past 2 weeks. One meteorologist was part of the interview.

At 10am this morning we had a joint press conference with Global Atmospherics, Tucson Electric Power, Pima County, and the Red Cross. Three local TV stations were present for the briefing and one Newspaper reporter. As well as being one of the panel members, we had one one on one taped interview (MIC). One Newspaper reporter interviewed the WCM for the story.

Tomorrow morning we are scheduled to be live on the a morning TV news show with one individual (WCM).

We have a press conference scheduled for this coming Friday.

So far (including the one scheduled for Tuesday morning) we have 6 one on one interviews on this subject and will be part of 2 more news shows.

It sure would have been nice to pass out a beta copy of the PNS this morning. I was able to get 2 of the three major stations to grab the satellite feed. I look forward to getting the posters and beta copy for distribution.

Prf