09/21/98 A DELUGE OF WARNINGS FROM THE WEATHER SERVICE

A DELUGE OF WARNINGS FROM THE WEATHER SERVICE

The National Weather Service supports public and private dissemination of information and applauds companies, such as those mentioned in ''A blizzard of weather sites'' (Personal Business, Aug. 3), for placing so much information on the Internet. But your readers should also know that while Dorothy may have avoided a trip to Oz by learning of an approaching twister through the World Wide Web, there is technology in place today that could have alerted her of pending tornadoes even if she were asleep or away from her PC!
The National Weather Service operates National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio, which broadcasts severe weather warnings and forecasts nationwide to the public 24 hours a day. The newest NOAA Weather Radio receivers can be programmed down to the county level and are able to turn themselves on and alert even sleeping people of dangerous weather.
Yet advances in technology and improvements in warning times are useless if individuals are not prepared. The National Weather Service encourages people to plan ahead for hazards that affect their area and to move to a predesignated place of safety when a tornado warning is issued by any medium.
John J. Kelly Jr.
Director
National Weather Service
Commerce Dept.
Silver Spring, Md.