You may have heard about that big storm that rolled up the East Coast. It produced all kinds of nasty weather for the big cities and that included much of New York State. We had lots of flooding for central and eastern New York.  Reports indicate that 2 to 4 inches of rain was measured with many reports of flooded roads and basements.

However, when using a map that is color coded to indicate where the severe weather is located, it may seem like just a complicated mess. This “rainbow” of colors does little to clarify specific times and locations. Whether it is wind, snow or heavy rain it is usually represented by different colors on a county map. Each one of these colors means something a little bit different about the weather that can affect you. But these color schemes representing a watch, warning or an advisory can seem a little bewildering.

The News10NBC meteorologists believe we have a better way of alerting your family. We feel our system clarifies and simplifies the process. You may have heard of it by now. It is the News10NBC First Alert threat tracker. Whatever the specific type of weather, we first show you the level of threat and then drill down to the specific type of weather. We believe this makes the forecast a little more user-friendly and in the end it really comes down to effective communication.

Right now we have a Yellow Alert in effect later tonight and tomorrow morning. You can obviously get this information on News10NBC, but you can also download our News10NBC weather app. Just search “WHEC weather” at your favorite app store.