12/01/2025
❄️ Is Your Agency Ready for the Next Winter Storm? ❄️
Public Information planning isn’t optional—it’s essential.
When a winter snowstorm or blizzard is about to impact your community, the way you communicate becomes just as important as what you communicate. Clear, timely, and accurate messaging helps keep people safe, reduces confusion, and strengthens trust in your agency.
A strong Public Information Plan ensures:
✔️ Unified messaging across all platforms
✔️ Coordination with partner agencies
✔️ Pre-scripted alerts and safety guidance
✔️ Rapid updates as conditions change
✔️ A clear pathway for the public to ask questions and receive credible information
As PIOs, our role is to stay ahead of the storm—literally. That means preparing messaging before the first flake falls and ensuring our community knows what to expect and how to stay safe.
I’m sharing a Blizzard Preparedness graphic below that you can use as a reminder of what your agency should be communicating long before snowfall becomes a life-safety issue.
Stay ready. Stay proactive. Stay communicative. Because in a crisis, information saves lives.
— Todd “The PIO Guy” Harmeson
Was this past snowstorm a blizzard? We have had several questions in regards to that and what criteria must be met for a true blizzard.
To start, Blizzards are relatively rare in Indiana. Not because we don't get heavy snow which we do! They are rare because they are determined by wind driven reductions in visibility. This past system did not meet the criteria for a Blizzard.
Blizzard criteria:
● Blowing snow.
● Winds sustained at 35mph or greater for at least 3 hours.
● Visibility less than .25 miles for at least 3 hours.
All of these things have to be met for at least 3 hours for a Blizzard. In fact because Blizzards are determined by visibility and not by snow fall totals, it doesn't have to snow for a Blizzard to occur! Ground Blizzards can happen from wind driven snow that has already fallen.