My sincerest appreciation to the developers of IRIS and the
integration of the mPing data into the Wx Reports/LSRs functionality.
One of the challenges we have been faced with is quickly assessing
the source of the PUB reports during very active weather events.
Would it be possible to have the mPing reports assigned the
"Unknown" as the Source? This would at least allow us a way
to filter the PUB reports from mPing. This is especially critical for
the wind related mPing reports as these are often so generalized that
the data is of little value.
For instance, we received over 50 'Tstm Wnd Dmg' mPing reports
during our most recent event with the Remarks ranging from:
"Report from mPING: 1-inch tree limbs broken; Shingles
blown off".
"Report from mPING: 3-inch tree limbs broken; Power poles broken"
"Report from mPING: Trees uprooted or snapped; Roof blown off"
When we started comparing to nearby reports (with images) the
data from mPing was not representative (especially the structural
damage portions of the report.)
Additionally, there were several other reports that were
submitted via the online reporting form concurrent to the mPing
reports which included excellent narratives; however, these were lost
in the process because there was no way to discern these from the
mPing reports. For instance the following public comments were
provided from the online form:
Public comments.
Will not appear in products.
Grain
leg down and irrigation blown over.
IP Address: 23.220.96.61
An mPing report from nearly the same location (and received at
the same time) had the following comment:
Report from mPING: 3-inch tree limbs broken; Power poles broken
It would be ideal if there was a way to visually discern mPing
reports from other PUB reports.
Again, just some rambling thoughts of a long in the tooth, old dog WCM.
Michael Lewis
WCM WFO Northern Indiana
