Medford National Weather Service is testing a severe weather program

Medford’s National Weather Service Office is 1 of just 15 across the country testing a new severe weather program.

The program could help you plan the next time winter weather hits.

It’s called ‘The Winter Storm Severity Index Graphic’.

It’s meant to give us a look at the most severe weather we could experience in a 72-hour period.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Ryan Sandler says the graphic takes into account elements like how much snow will fall, where the snow is falling and even snow loading on trees.

He says the program is mainly used on the East Coast so they wanted to give it a try out West.

“We volunteered to do it. We wanted to do it. It looked interesting and we thought, let’s see how well it does out here in the west with some big mountains. Not the small mountains they have out east,” Sandler said.

The graphic is generated everyday on the weather service’s website.

The office will review the program in March to see if everything the graphic suggested was accurate.

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