NATIONAL Weather Station-Guam science and operations officer Brandon Aydlett discussed weather service products, weather bulletins and information, terminology and jargon at a media workshop on Wednesday at LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort’s Caladium Hall.
Among those who attended the workshop were local reporters, government media representatives as well as public affairs and public information officers from different agencies.
Aydlett talked about thunder and lightning strikes, water spouts, tropical cyclones, tropical depressions, tropical storms, typhoons and super typhoons, among other related topics.
He explained the difference between a typhoon watch and a typhoon warning: “Typhoon watch means typhoon-strength winds of 74 mph or greater are possible within 48 hours. Typhoon warning means typhoon-strength winds of 74 mph or greater are possible within 24 hours.”
For his part, his twin, Landon Aydlett, NWS-Guam warning coordination meteorologist, acknowledged that weather jargon often causes confusion.
“We want to explain to the media representatives here how to better read our documents and share that with the community in a way that people can understand,” Landon Aydlett said.
“As a weather coordinator meteorologist, my focus is to work with the community and build this relationship with the media, government agencies and Homeland Security, but we can’t just put out weather information and call it a day,” he added.
“We have to have that two-way conversation with our government and media partners, because like a three-legged stool, if one of those legs is missing, that stool will topple,” he said.
“Media makes one of those legs, Homeland Security makes the second leg, and the National Weather Service is the third leg, so we all need to work together, communicate, and know how to be in contact with each other…when weather does threaten life and property in the islands.
“My role is to educate people, interact with the public in the community, and find out what works, what does not work, and how we can improve our services,” Landon Aydlett added.
National Weather Station-Guam warning coordination meteorologist Landon Aydlett and his twin, Brandon Aydlett, NWS-Guam science and operations officer, conduct a media workshop at LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort Wednesday afternoon.
