The Icelandic Meteorological Office, the national weather service under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, is reviewing its forecast and warning systems after a deep autumn low pressure system caused significant property damage in Siglufjörður in northern Iceland last week. The move could lead to more specific storm warnings for affected communities. The story was first reported by mbl.is.
Siglufjörður is a small fishing town on the northern coast in the Northeast Constituency. According to mbl.is, the town suffered property damage during the recent storm, making it one of the notable locations affected by the severe weather.
A meteorologist interviewed by RÚV suggested that the current colour-coded severe weather warnings, which typically cover large regions, should be more localized when appropriate. The meteorologist argued that the fixed warning regions are too large and that finer subdivisions could make the alerts more useful to residents.
Hildigunnur Thorsteinsson, director of the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told RÚV that adopting further subdivision of the country for color-coded warnings is not currently on the agency’s agenda. However, she said the office is examining the possibility of issuing more specific warnings.
According to Thorsteinsson, the agency routinely reviews its forecasts and systems whenever there is loss of life or property damage. “The agency has a rule to review its own forecasts and systems when there is loss of life or property damage,” she said, as quoted by mbl.is (translated from Icelandic).
Background
The Icelandic Meteorological Office was established in 1920 and operates as an independent institution under the ministry. Its responsibilities include weather forecasting, volcano monitoring, and civil protection. Siglufjörður, which suffered damage in last week’s storm, is part of Fjallabyggð municipality and is historically known for its fishing industry.
Sources
- mbl.is (first reported) in Icelandic
- RÚV in Icelandic
Image: Markus Trienke / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · licence, original (resized) Illustrative image.
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